[Georg Holtz] Irrigated agriculture is a main user of groundwater. Achieving a sustainable use of groundwater willoften require agricultural land-use changes such as shifting to entirely different kinds of cropsand/or technologies. Enhanced understanding of land-use change is hence required for developingpolicies for a sustainable water future... , "[Terry A. Howell] Irrigated agriculture is a vital component of total agriculture and supplies many of the fruits,vegetables, and cereal foods consumed by humans , "[C. Ray] Irrigated agriculture is a major sector of agricultural economy where high value crops are grown with substantial input of fertilizers and pesticides. High concentrations of nitrate and pesticides have been observed in ground water beneath irrigated areas in humid regions, where irrigation is practiced on sandy soils that have low water-holding capacity. Data from these areas indicate that irrigation wells are typically screened in the bottom part of the aquifer (which contain coarser deposits) whereas the domestic wells are screened just below the water table...