<P> Land may be marginal for a number of reasons, including poor water supply, poor soil quality, pollution from previous industrial activities, terrain challenges such as excessive slope, or excessive distance from means of transportation . </P> <P> Marginal land is not entirely useless for human purposes . For example, certain breeds of free - roaming livestock, such as the English Leicester sheep, are able to forage on such land . There are also some plants that can be grown in land that would be considered marginal for most agricultural uses . For example, cucurbita foetidissima, the buffalo gourd, is well adapted to marginal agricultural lands such as sandy loam soils which have to be well - drained . Land that is marginal for conventional row - crop production is often well - suited to perennial crops, including low - input crops grown as bioenergy or bioproduct feedtocks such as switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), shrub willow (Salix spp .), and giant miscanthus (Miscanthus x giganteus), allowing production of these crops without inducing competition for prime farmlands . </P>

Crop production in marginal areas with sandy soils