By far the greater part of Asia remains uncultivated, primarily because climatic and soil conditions are unfavourable. Conversely, in the best growing areas an extraordinarily intensive agriculture is practiced, made possible by irrigating the alluvial soils of the great river deltas and valleys. Of the principal crops cultivated, rice, sugarcane, and, in Central Asia, sugar beets require the most water. Legumes, root crops, and cereals other than rice can be grown even on land watered only by natural precipitation.