The Nubian agriculture and farming practices differ from those of Egyptians because Nubian farmers relied more on prepared fields and irrigation by waters diverted from the river Nile. While Egyptian farmers went into the floodplains in the late summer, after the recession of the Nile's annual flood, sowed their seeds without extensive preparation of the soil, allowed their crops to mature during the cold months of the year, and harvested them during the winter and early spring. With less extensive floodplains.