There is a lack of information available on the in situ extreme rainfall storms-induced hydrological and sedimentological dynamics of conservation tillage-based agro-geotextiles (AGTs) system. In the present field study on a conservation tilled maize crop planted on 4% natural runoff gauging plots (100 x 20 m(2)), we investigated the effect of indigenously prepared need-based AGTs from giant-reed (Arundo donax) and maize (Zea mays L.) stover; synthetically prepared coir-geo-textile; vegetative barriers of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) and grass-weed and only conservation tilled maize crop as a control treatment. Surface runoff and soil erosion processes from 36 runoff causing events in relation to the maize growing stages under different treatments were analyzed. During five extreme rainfall events (>100 mm), which occurred in the most sensitive period of soil erosion, AGT prepared from Arundo donax maintained the highest runoff reduction effectiveness similar to 29-75% and erosion reduction effectiveness similar to 24-94%. Overall, the AGTs system lost only 6-8% of rainfall as runoff and 1-4 t ha(-1) yr(-1) of soil from all the storms in comparison with the only conservation tilled maize fields which lost 24% of rainfall as runoff and 17.3 t ha(-1) yr(-1) of soil. The same treatment also maintained the lowest peak intensity of runoff water i.e., 0.018 cm h(-1); and longest time to attain the peak intensity of runoff water i.e., 0.795 min. Minimum rainfall required to initiate runoff (0.1 mm) was 18.5 mm in only conservation tilled maize while it was 40.5 mm in AGT prepared from Arundo donax. Key findings from this study indicate that in the context of frequently occurring of extreme rainfall events in the future climate change scenario, indigenously prepared need-based AGTs from locally available perennial grass like Arundo donax or other similar vegetation can successfully replace a conventional system of permanent vegetative barriers and synthetic coir-geo-textiles on sloping arable croplands of Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) and other similar locations of the world.
