Carlos Campillo Torres receives the Bernard Bièche Memorial Award

During the World Processing Tomato Congress and ISHS Symposium, Carlos Campillo Torres received the Bernard Bièche Memorial Award from Luca Sandei.
 
Carlos Campillo received his BS in agronomy science at Extremadura University in 2002. He then obtained his PhD in agronomy at Extremadura University in 2007 as an INIA National Research Institute fellow under the supervision of Dra. Henar Prieto at the Centre for Scientific and Technological Research of Extremadura (CICYTEX). His research focused on adjusting the irrigation water needs for processing tomatoes and crop rotation in the Vegas del Guadiana irrigation zone.
Carlos is currently the head of the Technologies for Sustainability research group in the Area of Agronomy of Woody and Horticultural Crops at the Centre for Scientific and Technological Research of Extremadura (CICYTEX). He and his teams focus on precision agriculture, crop simulation models and decision support systems as tools for optimizing water and fertilizer use, integrated irrigation and fertilizer management in large agricultural areas (commercial plots), and strategies for adapting to and mitigating climate change.

Carlos has been participating to the World Processing Tomato Congress since the 11th World Processing Tomato Congress in 2014 in Italy. He has presented various oral and poster presentations related to crop simulation models, efficient use of water and fertilizers, integrated irrigation and fertilizer management in large agricultural areas (commercial plots), and strategies to obtain tomatoes with high quality and more sustainable.

In the last congress in Budapest, Carlos presented different research he had conducted, including:
– The use of the automatic irrigation system 'IrriDesk' for managing deficit irrigation strategies in processing tomatoes, where a system has been developed that allows the farmer to manage irrigation strategies in the face of drought and to improve crop quality parameters according to different parameters such as soil, climate, crop development and water status, integrating the different areas of the plot.
– Image-based yield prediction analysis, monitoring of vegetative development of processing tomatoes as a source for adjusting crop models for fertilisation management.
– The effect of heat waves on processing tomato yield, where the effects of climate change have been characterized in one of the main productive areas in Spain, the Vegas del Guadiana.
 
He also focused on the use of precision irrigation for efficient water management in a processing tomato farm and the effect of different planting densities and deficit irrigation on grafted processing tomatoes.

During the Congress, he received the Bernard Bièche memorial award for his research. 

Carlos is excited to further his research and tackle new challenges to improve the quality and sustainability of tomato processing. He intends to present his new research at the 16th World Processing Tomato Congress and 18th ISHS symposium on processing tomato in Monterey, California in 2026.

To contact him:
Carlos Campillo, Centre for Scientific and Technological Research of Extremadura (CICYTEX), Department of Horticulture, Finca La Orden, Regional Government of Extremadura, Highway A-V, Km 372, 06187 Guadajira, Badajoz, Spain, 
(email: carlos.campillo@juntaex.es)