Preserving the planet Serving the Earth FAQ

What exactly is an intermediate crop?

02.10.23

Intermediate crops are crops planted between two main crops. They cover the soil between intercropping periods to ensure it doesn’t remain bare. Generally-speaking, there are two main types of intermediate crops, summer ones and winter ones. Summer intermediate crops – camelina, for example – are planted after the winter crop has been harvested and before the next winter crops are sown in the fall. The winter ones, such as carinata, are planted after a winter or spring crop has been harvested and before the next crops are sown.

Intermediate crops are used to cover the soil for most of the year and, as such, to use the resources available for the plant during these intercropping periods. If there was no plant cover, some elements would not be used and would even be lost through erosion. This plant cover provides major environmental benefits acknowledged by the scientific community.

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Improvement in the agricultural characteristics of main crops

By covering the soil between crop rotations, they create synergies with other crops. Thanks to the planting of intermediate crops, the conditions for planting the next main crop are greatly improved. Moreover, by optimizing their plant cover, farmers can limit the use of herbicides on their rotation to control self-propagating plants. Their ability to compete with these weeds helps protect main crops.

Crops for the good of our Planet: storing carbon, preserving water resources, soils and biodiversity

Intermediate crops are an excellent catalyst for storing carbon in soils, a key factor in addressing the ever-growing challenges of climate change. The plant’s photosynthetic activity stores atmospheric CO2 as plant biomass (roots, stalks, leaves, seeds), which will then be biodegraded by the environment’s biodiversity and stored as stable organic matter in the soil.

What’s more, the roots of intermediate crops structure the soil, reduce soil erosion and the leaching of nutrients, which will then be used by the plant. As such, they improve the soil’s ability to absorb water and nutrients and, at the same time, reduce temperature and disease stress for the next crops.

When it comes to biodiversity, the plant cover created by intermediate crops offers bees, insects and other species an appreciable habitat and food resource.

It also protects the soil from the sun’s rays in summer, which are harmful to micro-organisms that live in the superficial layers of the soil and play a role in the carbon cycle. It creates a link between the two main crops for fauna and micro-organisms in the environment.

Text transcript

Intermediate crops are crops planted between two main crops. They cover the soil between intercropping periods to ensure it doesn't remain bare.

Gilles Robillard explains it all!