Irrigation by crop
Irrigation for cotton
Wide rows and a long season make cotton the crop drip pays back fastest on — but the row spacing you actually planted decides how much pipe you need, and it varies more than people expect.
Suits it best
Drip irrigation
Usual row spacing
0.9–1.2 m
Water need
4–6 mm/day
Why drip irrigation
Wide, well-spaced rows and a long season — inline drip on every row pays back fastest here.
What actually changes the answer
- One lateral per row. At 1.2 m spacing an acre needs roughly half the pipe it would at 0.6 m, so measure your rows before ordering.
- A long season means the lateral sits in the field for months — wall thickness matters more here than on a short vegetable crop.
- Pre-monsoon sowing usually means the system is commissioned dry. Flush the laterals before the first full irrigation.
How much pipe would cotton need?
Put in your acres and the estimator works it out against this crop’s row spacing, then prices the parts from our own catalogue at published MRP.
Estimate my systemWhat you’d be buying
Spacings and water figures on this page are widely published agronomic ranges, not a design for your field. Soil, slope, water source and pump all move them. Send us your crop, acres and pump details and we’ll confirm the sizing before you commit.
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