In the 70s the USDA was in Syria, teaching the locals how to use fertilizer to grow more/better crops. When the US left, the farmers applied their new found knowledge to the poppy fields...now you know the rest of the story. :)
http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/Y4890E/y4890e05.htm
As far as the eye can see....a sea of red.
