In Wengling's mountainous orchards, transporting fertilizers and fruits used to rely solely on manual labor, requiring a substantial workforce and incurring high costs in terms of time and effort. Now, with the promotion of agricultural mechanization, a monorail "mini-train" has been introduced to the mountainous orchards, effectively solving this problem and becoming a helpful assistant to the fruit farmers.
At the Haoleguo Play Garden in Niutouling, Nancheng Town, Wenling City, the mountain mono-rail transport machine has been successfully installed and put into operation with timely support from Shandong Jiao Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd., making the farmers' labor easier. The orchard, covering over 200 acres, is located at the top of Niutouling Mountain. To facilitate the growth of the fruit trees, the farmers have transformed the mountain peak into terraced fields, planting over 20 varieties of fruits, including blueberries and nectarines. Currently, the orchard has recruited 10 workers.
Workers, at the side of a farmhouse in the orchard, loaded fertilizer into the carrier of the mountain monorail transporter. After starting the power unit, the transporter roared to life, resembling a "little train," climbing from the foot of the mountain to the summit and back to the nearby administration house, all with ease and speed.
"After installing this monorail transport system, it has been a tremendous help for our orchard, mainly by saving both labor and money. We plant on high mountains where it's difficult to recruit workers. Moreover, it takes a lot of time for workers to hike from the management house to the top, not to mention carrying agricultural supplies. It used to take three days to complete the task, but now it can be done in just one day. Assuming a worker earns 180 yuan per day, it used to cost 540 yuan for three days, but now it's just 180 yuan, saving 360 yuan. Over a month, the savings are even greater," said the general manager.
According to information, mountainous farming conditions are poor, and traditional methods relying on manual labor and animal power not only pose certain risks but also have low production efficiency and high costs. In recent years, the Wending agricultural machinery department has actively sought project funding from higher authorities to implement the mechanization transformation project for hilly and mountainous areas, focusing on breaking the bottleneck of local mountain agriculture mechanization development. It continuously improves the working conditions for agricultural machinery in hilly and mountainous areas, vigorously promotes the mechanized production of fruits, tea, and vegetables, and provides technical support for the people to generate income through mountainous land.
"The monorail transport machine effectively addresses the challenges of product and agricultural input transportation, as well as the difficulties in recruiting workers and the high labor costs. It significantly benefits agricultural production by enhancing efficiency and income, and it also provides a shortcut for mountainous farmers to脱贫致富, truly reflecting and leveraging the significance and role of 'machine replacing man' in agriculture," said Qu Gaoping, the deputy director of the city's agricultural machinery station, after inspecting the monorail transport machine in the orchard.
Monorail transportation mechanization technology refers to a modern mechanized transportation method that utilizes a single-track layout to transport agricultural materials and products. Each transport load is approximately 300 kilograms, offering great convenience, particularly suitable for hilly, terraced, and mountainous fields. The application of monorail transportation technology can effectively solve transportation challenges, reduce labor intensity, enhance labor efficiency, lower production costs, and save time in transportation operations.
Hao Guo Play Garden is the first in Wengling City to utilize monorail transportation vehicles on mountains. Starting last year, the orchard has invested over 400,000 yuan to set up three monorail lines on hills, totaling 1,000 meters.
Qu Gao Ping stated, "The path to modern agriculture lies in mechanization; only with increased and widespread mechanization can farmers expect to increase their income. 'Next, we will facilitate the connection between agricultural machinery manufacturers and farmers, establish models for city-wide promotion, and comprehensively popularize and apply agricultural machinery suitable for Wengling.' "
