World’s food production relies on crops grown in irrigated land to feed an increasing population. In the long term, irrigation agriculture may cause environmental deterioration to the area (soil degradation, aquifer contamination) and its surroundings (greenhouse gas emission, eutrophication) to compromise crop production. Three irrigated areas in northern Mexico (Yaqui Valley, Delicias, Comarca Lagunera) were examined with respect to the challenges to achieve sustainability using reported values of nitrogen (N) along with the conventional aquifer depletion and water contamination parameters. N₂O emissions, measured in only the Yaqui Valley, amounted to up to 4.5% of applied N, and nitrate losses to about 18%. The water tables of these aquifers are dropping at rates of 0.4 m year⁻¹ (Delicias) to 1.5 m year⁻¹ (Comarca Lagunera). High NO₃⁻ concentrations in the Comarca Lagunera (66.2% of wells above 10 mg L⁻¹ NO₃–N) pose a threat to human health. Although lower than 10 mg L⁻¹ NO₃–N in most wells, NO₃⁻ levels in Delicias and Yaqui Valley are increasing with time, although more data are needed to confirm the trend. Overall, and although the efforts by farmers still focus on increasing crop yield, awareness of the advantage of implementing measures towards sustainability is on the rise.

世界粮食生产依靠灌溉土地上的农作物来养活不断增长的人口。从长远来看，灌溉农业可能会对该地区及其周围环境（土壤排放，含水层污染）和环境（温室气体排放，富营养化）造成环境恶化，从而损害农作物的生产。利用报告的氮（N）值以及常规的含水层耗竭和水污染参数，对墨西哥北部的三个灌溉区（雅基河谷，德利西亚斯，科马卡·拉古内拉）进行了挑战，以实现可持续性方面的挑战。仅在Yaqui山谷中测得的N ₂ O排放量高达所施氮量的4.5％，硝酸盐损失量约为18％。这些含水层的地下水位以每年0.4 m的速度下降^-1（Delicias）至150万年^-1（Comarca Lagunera）。高NO ₃ ^-的浓度在拉古内拉地区（高于10毫克的L井66.2％^-1 NO ₃ -N）对人体健康的威胁。虽然低于10毫克的L ^-1 NO ₃ -N在大多数井，NO ₃ ^-中德利西亚斯和亚基谷水平随时间增加，但需要更多的数据来证实的趋势。总体而言，尽管农民的努力仍集中在增加作物单产上，但人们对实施可持续性措施的优势的认识正在提高。