Cotton has been grown commercially under drip irrigation in Texas since 1984. To date 229 acres have been installed; the average plot size is about 15.4 acres. The average cost per acre has been about $441.

Yield potential in Texas is limited by certain natural resources, specifically, water (rainfall and groundwater combination) and season length and intensity. The average yield in Texas for irrigated cotton is 431 lbs of lint per acre (based on data from 1978-1982 and 1984-1985). Eighty-nine Texas counties had recorded yields on file for this period. Seventy-five per cent of these counties averaged less than one-bale per acre. Only two counties had average& exceeding two bales per acre. Based on rainfall and groundwater extraction amounts, statewide yields should be averaging 643 lbs of lint per acre. Based on season (ie, Heat Units as the deciding factor) statewide average& would be about 1190 lbs of lint per acre. Thus water remains the state's limiting factor (the state gross irrigation amount remains only 17 inches).

Drip irrigation could have potential in situations where water is short, an ample season exists (is, probably beneath 32 degrees of latitude), water is expensive, soils are coarse, or the shape of the field precludes other more economic irrigation systems.