The Opata depended upon agriculture for most of their subsistence. Maize, beans, squash, and cotton were the principal crops. Due to the scarcity and irregularity of rainfall, the Opata practiced canal irrigation as well as dry-land farming techniques. Early Spanish explorers described large and productive fields among the Opata. The Opata also hunted game, especially deer, with bows and arrows, fished in the rivers with spears and nets and gathered wild foods, such as Chenopodium and cactus leaves and fruits. They also produced a fermented maize atole beverage known as "tanori", which was normally drunk during certain ceremonies and celebrations. (Expert preparers of that beverage often took on the second name of "Tanori".)