Serendipity changes farmers’ lives
Print Edition
Akin to a roller coaster, a small truck packed with 200 kilograms of freshly picked navel oranges zigzags on rail tracks laid above the gently rolling terrain of an orchard in Fengjie County in southwest China’s Chongqing.
Zhang Yong, owner of the orchard, steered the truck from its driving seat as the 4-wheeled vehicle continued moving toward a warehouse nearby upon completing its run on the 96-meter-long tracks.
Jumping off the truck, Zhang continued to demonstrate its driverless mode. One can easily start and reverse the truck, and apply brakes by simply pressing the relevant button on the remote controller.
Thousands of people in Fengjie grow citrus crops. The county has more than 24,000 hectares of citrus land, generating over 3 billion yuan (US$45.8 million) in revenue each year.
Zhang, who has been planting navel oranges for 10 years, deems the transport system a blessing. “In the past, we needed at least four people to carry the oranges on their shoulders or back. This transporter has made things much easier.”
The system was invented by Zhang Runfu, 45, a native of Fengjie who is an entrepreneur and an automation expert.
During last Spring Festival, Zhang Runfu returned from Guangdong Province to visit his family and was stranded by the pandemic. Wandering the orchards of his hometown, he was astonished by the farmers’ primitive, sweaty way of transporting fertilizers and oranges.
“I thought to myself, how about creating a more convenient transportation for them using my own expertise?” he recalled. Within a month, a 3D model of the “roller coaster” transportation system was completed, followed by prototypes of a truck and tracks.
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