Click here to download Toro’s official guide to Subsurface Drip Irrigation (SDI). For Spanish, click here.

Subsurface Drip Irrigation is a specialized sub-set of drip irrigation where dripline or drip tape “lateral lines” (tubes buried beneath the crop rows) and supply and flushing “submains” (pipes supplying water to the lateral lines) are buried beneath the soil surface for multi-year use. The technique of burying less expensive Bi-Wall drip tape laterals beneath field crops was pioneered in the American Southwest decades ago, and has since been implemented by researchers and growers alike. The SDI technique is now being used throughout the world on a wide range of grain forage and fiber crops including alfalfa, corn, cotton, soybeans and sugarcane. In addition to drip tape, thinwall integral driplines are commonly used as well.