A central China village shot to fame recently over its practice of flying drones to transport locally grown oranges.
In Wangusi Village of Zigui County within Hubei Province, villagers have been using intelligent equipment, such as drones and self-driving vehicles, to transport freshly picked oranges from local orchards.
Specifically, a drone with a carton of oranges tethered to its bottom is seen flying across a river in TV footage.
Villagers also told media that when oranges are ripe, they load them onto an autonomous vehicle that moves along pre-laid rails to designated drop-off points.
This reduces not just labor costs but also wastage during the ride.
Screenshot from CCTV footage
Drones are also utilized to survey the orchards, take photos, and send them back for analysis on their quality and ripeness.
Orange is a cash crop of Wangusi Village. In the past, it took lots of time and effort to deliver the fruit to processing facilities or retail outlets.
For instance, villagers used to carry oranges piggyback out of the orchards, which is backbreaking work.
Local villagers are now part of a nationwide fervor to introduce advanced technologies to automate traditionally manual farming processes, generating a higher economic return for households and enhancing the appeal of agriculture.
