The small size of the seed, with a GMP ranging from 0.7 to 1.8 g, represents a challenge for successful planting. Soil cultivation and sowing methods must provide a seedbed conducive to good contact between seed and soil, while limiting the impact of residues from the previous crop.

The success of camelina in summer intercropping depends largely on its rapid establishment. This crucial stage requires rapid, uniform and vigorous emergence. Everything must be done to ensure that the cycle is completed as quickly as possible, so that harvesting can take place at an acceptable date, maximizing the chances of harvesting camelina under favorable climatic conditions and having no impact on the following crop.

To maximize the chances of early emergence, it is crucial to choose a suitable crop precedent, enabling harvesting before July 10, the latest date for sowing camelina. The optimum sowing date is before the beginning of July. The most suitable crops are protein or canning peas and winter barley.

Previous pea crop

Sowing should be carried out as soon as possible after harvesting the previous crop, ideally within 24 to 48 hours, to take advantage of any remaining soil moisture.
Direct sowing with tines is strongly recommended. In the case of shallow stubble ploughing, do not go deeper than 3 cm to maintain soil moisture.

Seeding depth :

• Direct seeding: seed 3 cm deep
• Tilled seeding: seed 1-2 cm deep
• Surface seeding: not recommended

Regarding sowing density, we recommend sowing at 8 kg/ha with a row spacing of 12.5 - 15 cm, to aim for a stand of around 200 plants/m2.

If you have irrigation, we strongly recommend applying 10-20 mm just after sowing to boost emergence.

Previous winter barley

The only difference between winter barley and peas concerns harvesting, which should be carried out as high up as possible (between 25 and 30 cm).

It is important to remove the straw, as it can consume nitrogen as it decomposes, and adversely affect sowing quality by disturbing contact between the seed and the soil.

Straw should also be evenly distributed over the entire surface.

All other recommendations for planting remain identical to those applied to previous peas.

Sowing should be carried out in well-aerated, uncompacted soil. Due to the small size of its seeds, camelina requires particularly careful, fine and well-reconsolidated seedbed preparation. Tillage should aim for a homogeneous profile, with no marked areas of compaction, and a surface area comparable to that required for rapeseed sowing.

For spring camelina, the soil should be worked when it is well drained. To reduce the risk of soil compaction, we recommend reducing the number of tractor passes as much as possible, and favouring the use of combined implements. Rolling prior to sowing can be considered to even out the seedbed and ensure good contact between the seed and the soil, a condition favorable to successful germination.

Sowing takes place between late March and early April, using a cereal drill with a narrow row spacing (12.5 to 15 cm). The recommended sowing density is 5 kg/ha, aiming for a minimum population of 200 plants/m². Sowing depth should be between 1 and 1.5 cm. If required, seeds can be mixed with sand or semolina to facilitate even distribution.

The first criterion is to choose an early-harvested preceding crop, enabling camelina to be planted between June 20 and July 10, to guarantee a harvest before the end of October. The main candidate crops are winter peas and winter barley, but other early-harvested crops may also be suitable: canning peas, garlic, onions, etc.

The map below illustrates the importance of sowing early, showing the date at which maturity is reached for very short-cycle varieties according to different emergence dates. For example, for an emergence on July 1, camelina reaches maturity before October 10 throughout France, whereas for an emergence on July 8, it reaches maturity after October 10 in the northern part of France, and for an emergence on July 15, it reaches maturity after October 20 in almost the northern half of France.

Planting camelina after a legume (e.g. winter peas) is particularly interesting, as it allows you to limit or even do without nitrogen fertilization, thus reducing the ITK's operating costs.

Camelina grown as a summer catch crop is sensitive to the persistence of certain herbicides, mainly those in group 2(^ALS1 inhibitors) with herbicides from the sulfonylurea family such as metsulfuron, mesosulfuron, etc., as well as imazamox (applied to winter peas). It also appears to be sensitive to group 14 herbicides (^PPO2 inhibitors such as bifenox) and group 32 herbicides (solanesyl diphosphate synthase inhibitors, includingaclonifen, applied to winter peas).

There is therefore a risk of phytotoxicity (leaf discoloration, foot loss, etc.) for camelina when these herbicides are applied in spring to the main crop, a risk that is all the greater in dry conditions, when applied late and when there is little or no tillage between the harvest of the main crop and the planting of camelina. Despite this, the effects of these herbicides can vary according to a number of factors (rainfall, soil type, tillage, date and dose of application, etc.) and are still poorly understood and quantified.

Camelina is a well-established crop that competes well with weeds. In spite of this, weed pressure remains one of the main limiting factors for camelina as a summer catch crop, so it's vital to use every possible means to manage weeds effectively.

We recommend choosing a weed-free plot at sowing time. If weeds are present when the main crop is harvested and you wish to direct seed, a glyphosate pass may be useful to manage weeds before seeding.

^1ALS: acetolactate synthase
^2PPO: protoporphyrinogen oxidase

It is often combined, especially with lentils, to act as a support and help manage weeds. In this case, camelina is sown at a fairly low density, so its yield is lower than pure yield.

It can also be grown as a pure crop, in autumn or spring, and is an interesting option for integrating a cruciferous crop into organic rotations. It is particularly useful for weed management: with its short cycle, it can be sown very late in the spring, thus breaking the weed cycle and allowing several false sowings in the spring.

If planting conditions are favorable, camelina develops rapidly and is highly competitive with weeds. If not, however, camelina becomes a very messy crop, as it is difficult to use mechanical tools (risk of stubble formation, particularly with the harrow).

Farmers' testimonials also reveal a potential allelopathic effect of camelina, which to our knowledge has not yet been demonstrated in the field.

The camelina produced organically is mainly used as edible oil, or in the cosmetics sector, while the oilcake is used in animal feed.

It was widely cultivated until the early 20th century, producing an oil used in soaps and paints, before gradually disappearing in the face of competition from more productive oilseed crops such as rapeseed. At the time, the solid residues obtained after oil extraction were used as a feed supplement for livestock or as fertilizer; the stalks were used to make brooms.

Today, it is making a comeback on the European agricultural scene, and is attracting interest from a wide range of players, both farmers and manufacturers, thanks to its agronomic advantages and the new outlets it opens up.

Camelina has one major advantage: it adapts to a wide range of soil and climate conditions, and is particularly well suited to low-potential soils. It is often presented as a hardy crop, thanks to its low input requirements and resistance to drought and high temperatures. It is also fairly tolerant of pests and resistant to lodging. Camelina requires little fertilizer or pesticide, so its introduction into cropping systems has both economic and environmental benefits.

What's more, it doesn't require any special equipment, making it easy to introduce to farms. Nevertheless, due to its small seed size (PMG ≈ 1-1.5g), the planting and harvesting phases require adjustments and special attention.

An interesting feature of camelina is the length of its cycle, which varies according to variety and sowing period, from 90 to 250 days (1700 to 1900 degrees day at base 0°C, depending on variety). Camelina can therefore be grown as a main crop, in association with lentils, for example, or as a catch crop for short-cycle varieties (link to page on how to insert camelina into the SoC).

Its low input requirements, combined with its strong competitive power - provided it emerges regularly and evenly - mean that it has a place in organic farming rotations (link to organic farming page). Some farmers even report that it has an "allelopathic" effect, i.e. that it can naturally inhibit the growth of other undesirable plants around it. To our knowledge, this has not yet been demonstrated in the field.

All these advantages make it a crop that can be easily integrated into a variety of cropping systems in France and around the world, in both organic and conventional farming, as a main crop or as a catch crop.