Plains are the world’s primary “food factories,” accounting for about 95% of global crop production. Geographically, plains offer the ideal environment for farming: flat land prevents soil erosion from runoff, allows for efficient irrigation and facilitates the use of modern agricultural machinery. River-deposited alluvial plains, like the Nile or the Mississippi, are particularly fertile due to the constant renewal of nutrients. Because of this extreme agricultural productivity, plains have become the most critical geographical zones for global food security, supporting the energy needs of the nearly eight billion people on Earth.