From 29 June to 3 July 2025, Dr. Sergio Vélez from the University of Burgos (Spain) participated in the 15th European Conference on Precision Agriculture (ECPA 2025), held in Barcelona, Spain. His attendance was made possible thanks to a Young Researcher and Innovator Conference Grant awarded by the COST Association under the FruitCREWS Action.
At ECPA 2025, Dr. Vélez presented a poster titled “Digital Twins and Low-Cost Sensors to Improve Pistachio Management”, co-authored with Raquel Martínez-Peña. The work focused on innovative, affordable digital technologies for tree crop management, highlighting the potential of smartphone-based 3D modeling and low-cost sensors to support pistachio growers in monitoring and irrigation planning.
Participation in the conference provided Dr. Vélez with significant visibility in the precision agriculture community. He established new contacts with researchers from France, Greece, and Israel working on complementary topics such as crop stress detection and irrigation decision-support systems. Several participants also expressed interest in applying his methods to other crops, such as olives and almonds, opening the door for future collaborations and joint project proposals.
Importantly, Dr. Vélez’s involvement also promoted FruitCREWS among the international precision agriculture community. By presenting his work under the Action’s umbrella, he contributed to disseminating its objectives and demonstrating how low-cost digital tools can be integrated into sustainable irrigation strategies.