Increased water costs and water conservation are of prime concern to agriculture in the desert southwest. Drip irrigation provides one of the best means of water conservation. Drip irrigation for cotton production has been researched in Arizona previously, however, it has only been in the past few years that cotton has been commercially produced with drip irrigation in Arizona.

In 1982, research was conducted at the Sundance Farms, Casa Grande, Arizona comparing conventional furrow irrigation with an above-ground drip irrigation system with one drip line for two rows of cotton and a below-ground drip irrigation system with one drip line under each row of cotton. The cotton was planted in 40-inch rows in all tests.