Very few soil erosion studies have investigated the effectiveness of conservation tillage (CT)-based agrogeotextiles (AGTs) on rainfed sloping croplands of the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) for intensifying unremunerative double cropping (maize-wheat) to sustainable remunerative triple cropping (maize-pea-wheat). This study assessed surface runoff, soil, and nutrient losses during the rainy season in maize crops to evaluate the impact of eight conservation practices on post-rainy season soil moisture content, productivity, and profitability of the crop rotation, and soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation over a six-year period (2017-2023) on a 4% sloped natural runoff gauge plots (100 x 20 m2). The conservation practices involved a combination of rainfed maize-wheat and rainfed maize-pea-wheat crop rotations, utilizing two thicknesses (5 cm and 10 cm) and two configurations (0.5 m and 1.0 m vertical intervals) of Arundo donax (AD)-agro-geotextiles (AGTs), with comparisons drawn against the standard farmers' practice of bench terraces (BT). In the treated CT fields, the highest amounts of residues (6.0-7.1 t ha-1) were recycled by applying 5 and 10 cm thick AD-AGTs at a 0.5 m vertical interval (VI). Approximately 1100-1300 mm of rainfall per hectare per year was retained as soil water, and soil erosion decreased by 80-90% in the treated AD-AGT CT fields compared to the non-treated CT fields, which experienced a loss of 8.5 tonnes per hectare per year of soil. In the AD-AGT CT fields, the highest wheat equivalent yields (12.0-13.6 t ha-1 year-1), profits (2332-2477 US$ ha-1 year-1), and SOC build-up (1.16-1.20%) were recorded. In the treated fields, an average of 32-108 kg organic carbon, 3-6 kg nitrogen, 1-3 kg of phosphorus, and 8-37 kg potassium per hectare per year were retained, preventing their loss as pollutants through surface runoff water. The research provided scientific evidence indicating that triple cropping of maize-pea-wheat in a pure rainfed condition of IHR can be achieved without compromising wheat yields, provided that farmers apply CT-based AD-AGTs at the appropriate rate and configuration, i.e., emplacement of 5 cm thick biomass @ 1.1 t ha-1 on a 0.5 m vertical interval. From a sustainable practice point of view, the study proposes a valorization for AD biomass that contains no economic value. Future soil and water conservation research should examine the impacts of AD-AGTs on soil and water conservation across a diverse range of rainfall and field slope conditions.
