A National Program of Research for Soil and Land Use

Excerpts from the report: The Soil and Land Use Task Force has been charged with the evaluation of research needs in soils related to agriculture. In developing these needs, the committee has assumed that our soil resources should be used to maintain a sustained high standard of living for the people in the United States as well as those in developing countries. However, in assuming this responsibility, the committee has also been concerned with urban, recreational, and other land uses that will meet the needs of the people without polluting our soil and water resources. The objectives of research, the research approaches, and the character of the potential benefits of the following subject areas were evaluated and formulated by the Joint Task Force: Inventory of Fundamental Properties and Processes of Soils; Development and Use of Soil Surveys; Soil Classification and Correlation; Soil Factors Influencing Animal and Human Nutrition; Soil Profile Modification; Tillage and Residue Management; Soil Structure Formation and Stability; Soil Acidity and Liming; Efficient Use of Plant Nutrients; Microbial Activities in Soils; Soil-Water-Plant Relationships; Dynamics of Leaching and Salinity Control; Influence of Irrigation Return Flows on Receiving Waters; Management of Saline Environments for Crops; Inventory, Conservation, and Development of Land Resources; Land Resource Institutions and Tenure; Improved Methods of Planning Land Resource Use and Development; Impact of Population Growth, Technology, and Alternative Government Programs on Land Use; Plant Nutrients and Fertilizers in Pollution; Agricultural Pesticides and the Pollution of Soil and Water; Sediment as Related to Land Use and the Quality of Environment; Animal Wastes and the Pollution of Soil and Water.