Urea granules, a nitrogenous compound fertiliser, lie on a dry floor beside tractor tracks where wheat will be planted. Around October, when the land is dry, many local farmers apply fertilisers, irrigate with water from canals, and then let the fields sit for about a month before planting wheat. Ivan Ortiz-Monasterio, a scientist from CIMMYT, has constantly tried to convince them to use less fertiliser and later in the year, as the current methodology produces high nitrous oxide emissions contributing to climate change.
