Valentin Pret
@pret-v.bsky.social
39 followers 57 following 6 posts
PhD candidate in agronomy at WUR & Cirad Fieldwork in Zimbabwe 🇿🇼 Smallholder farms | Climate risk | Sustainable intensification | Crop modelling
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Reposted by Valentin Pret
remicardinael.bsky.social
Can soil-crop models mostly tested in temperate conditions be relevant under tropical conditions to simulate long-term #soilorganiccarbon #yields? A study based on 4 trials in Kenya 🇰🇪 @mcorbeels.bsky.social @gatienfalconnier.bsky.social @johansix.bsky.social

authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
Reposted by Valentin Pret
remicardinael.bsky.social
New #openaccess paper from the PhD thesis of @souleymanejules.bsky.social 👏 !

We monitored during 2 years surface albedo in conventional tillage, no tillage, & no tillage with mulch (maize residues) at 2 long-term experiments in Zimbabwe, and having 2 different soil types:
doi.org/10.1016/j.st...
Reposted by Valentin Pret
sergezaka.bsky.social
La Une de Libération du 18 juillet 2025. Versus la Mer de Glace en 1950.
Reposted by Valentin Pret
ipcc.bsky.social
#IPCC's 2022 #ClimateReport shows heatwaves in Europe will become more frequent, more intense & will last longer.

By 2050, about half of the European population may be exposed to high or very high risk of heat stress during summer.

➡️ bit.ly/IICpt13
Reposted by Valentin Pret
thierryaaron.bsky.social
@ketanjoshi.co provides a very helpful alternative figure as a rejoinder to the primary energy graph in my first post in this thread...

bsky.app/profile/keta...
ketanjoshi.co
Part of the reason this sort of baffles people is that we still don't widely understand just how intensely silly it is to get energy from old dead compressed plants

Made this a few years ago but it's the same today: ~2/3rds of climate impacts relate to energy that was never 'used'
a chart showing most emissions relate to energy that was never really used, because it was emitted as wasted heat
pret-v.bsky.social
"These techniques are all however considered more expensive or energy-intensive than cutting emissions in the first place by burning fewer fossil fuels"
rishpardikar.bsky.social
I do not understand how credits from complex forms of CO2 removal like enhanced rock weathering are priced (averages at $352 per tonne of CO2 here) when scientists are still in the process of figuring out MRV. No idea about actual sequestration but let's price and trade it
www.ft.com/content/ffc2...
Investors pile into rocks to absorb carbon emissions
‘Enhanced weathering’ draws backers including Microsoft, Musk and JPMorgan
www.ft.com
Reposted by Valentin Pret
gatienfalconnier.bsky.social
Last week I defended my 'Habilitation à diriger des Recherches'

Thanks to those who attended!

Thanks to the fantastic jury: L.Alletto A.METAY L.Hossard L.Bell R.Zougmore G.Martin G. Corre-Hellou

The slide deck:
lnkd.in/g-eJik8P

The HDR manuscript:
lnkd.in/gF4XcmnU
Reposted by Valentin Pret
remicardinael.bsky.social
Cropping season over in Zimbabwe 🇿🇼 ! After cowpea a few weeks ago, maize 🌽 has now been harvested at our rainfall exclusion site at the University of Zimbabwe @cirad.bsky.social. Yields will for sure be much higher than during the once-in-century El Nino drought last year.
Reposted by Valentin Pret
hwebber8.bsky.social
So exciting to see our commentary out! With a super team of Yean-Uk Kim of @zalf.bsky.social, @alexruane.bsky.social of @agmip.bsky.social and @robertfinger.bsky.social, we outline needed advances for more robust risk assessments of cropping systems.

www.nature.com/articles/s43...
pret-v.bsky.social
Great work by PPS colleagues: Intensifying legumes with phosphorus fertiliser and inoculants in smallholder fields increases yields and reduces weed pressure, enabling greater resilience to weeding delays and more flexible farm management

shorturl.at/SnHYu
Reposted by Valentin Pret
gatienfalconnier.bsky.social
Low yielding and low data in smallholder farming systems is not a question of fate.

I was able to talk on the topic at the last #AgMIP10 conference

youtu.be/gAAFJtg2Qb0?...
AgMIP10 April 2 Plenaries (ENG)
YouTube video by AgMIP
youtu.be
Reposted by Valentin Pret
remicardinael.bsky.social
📢 Great postdoc (3 years) opportunity in our group @cirad.bsky.social in the FairCarboN #ALAMOD project to coordinate a modeling excercice @agmip.bsky.social on #soilorganicmatter and nitrogen dynamics in tropical cropping systems.
Deadline: 08/05/25

recrutement.cirad.fr/job/job-rese...
Cirad - Chercheur.e en modélisation de la matière organique dans les systèmes de culture tropicaux
recrutement.cirad.fr
Reposted by Valentin Pret
Reposted by Valentin Pret
agent-sprout.bsky.social
In a new paper, we propose the 'ecological yield gap' as a framework to strengthen collaboration between agronomists and ecologists in our quest to enhance on-farm ecosystem services in ways that effectively sustain crop yields while minimising input use:
doi.org/10.1016/j.gf...
🧪🌱🌾🧑‍🌾🐞💚🤎
Narrowing the ecological yield gap to sustain crop yields with less inputs
Sustainable production of sufficient and healthy food requires efficient use of agricultural inputs. In many regions of the world with intensive agric…
www.sciencedirect.com
Reposted by Valentin Pret
remicardinael.bsky.social
📢 New #PhD offer. You have a MSc degree in agronomy, soil science or plant ecophysiology AND you are from Kenya? This offer might be for you.

"Contribution of #agroforestry systems 🌳 🌽 🥑 🐐 to provisioning ecosystem services, #climatechange adaptation and mitigation in Kenya"

Deadline: 31.05.2025.
Reposted by Valentin Pret
gatienfalconnier.bsky.social
Could drought and poor soil undermine the performance of intercropping ?

Our study in semi-arid Zimbabwe found that the benefits of intercropping are maintained even with water and N stress.

doi.org/10.1016/j.fc...

Congrats Illiana Kwenda - A nice combination of field experiments and modelling
Reposted by Valentin Pret
cimmyt.bsky.social
🌍 We hosted the 10th #AgMIP Global Workshop at #CIMMYT, where global leaders tackled urgent conversations! From science & policy to crop modeling, we’re advancing #FoodSecurity and a #Sustainable future. 🌱
Reposted by Valentin Pret
remicardinael.bsky.social
Carbon #sequestration in #agroforestry 🌳 🌽 🥑 🐄 is a hot topic.
Here we provide #openaccess guidelines to improve the quantification & reporting of carbon stocks in #soils & #biomass & additional #carbon storage in agroforestry systems, and to maximize manuscript acceptance.
doi.org/10.1007/s104...
Guidelines for improved quantification and reporting of carbon stocks and additional carbon storage in agroforestry systems - Agroforestry Systems
The number of scientific publications related to biomass carbon or soil organic carbon under various land management practices has globally and dramatically increased during the last two decades, the ...
doi.org
Reposted by Valentin Pret
lerouxlouise.bsky.social
Interested in participatory approaches and spatial modelling applied to smallholder farming system? ➡️ we have a PhD opportunity in the #GALILEO project on #agroforestery for #climatechange resilience! 🌍🧑‍🌾🌳🌽

📅Deadline : 11 May 2025

📝Modalities : gaia.umontpellier.fr/documents/SU...
Reposted by Valentin Pret
agmip.bsky.social
#AgMIP10 officially launched this morning, but we hosted seven pre-workshop Side Meetings yesterday, including the GGCMI, Wheat, Ozone, Global Econ, Low-Input, and Calibration #AgMIPTeams.