fertile

Iraq, for its part, has for years navigated a delicate balancing act between Tehran and Washington and has long been a fertile ground for proxy battles.

Wearing large rubber boots, Nadine Mitschunas joyfully handled mature rice plants peeking through the water of her small plot growing in the fertile soil of eastern England.

Rather than being shaped only by river floods, the region's growth was tied to predictable tidal patterns that provided both water and fertile soil.

As the country expanded and farms began to dot the Midwest, the number of agriculture workers increased significantly along large stretches of fertile land in the South.

In a Mediterranean-like climate and using the fertile soil, they grow peanuts, oranges, apples and strawberries - rare crops for a country now facing one of the world's worst hunger crises.