The city, previously named Cajeme, takes its name from Mexican Revolutionary Álvaro Obregón, a native of nearby Huatabampo, Sonora. Álvaro Obregón became president of Mexico after the Revolution and initiated an "agricultural revolution" in the Yaqui Valley, introducing modern agricultural techniques and making this valley one of the most prosperous agricultural regions in the country. Renowned US agronomist Dr. Norman Borlaug, the architect of the "Green Revolution" worked here after successful developments in increasing the resistance of wheat. For his efforts he was later awarded the Nobel Prize.