CHONGQING, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- In a revolutionary shift for agricultural logistics, drones are now soaring over the mountainous terrain of Fengjie County, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, effortlessly airlifting freshly harvested oranges from remote orchards to distribution hubs.
Nestled in rugged mountains, Fengjie boasts a unique microclimate with ample sunlight and rainfall, ideal for orange cultivation. The terraced fields, carved into slopes, are home to thousands of orange trees tended by generations of farmers.
"In the past, we relied on manual transport, which was not only time-consuming but also posed safety risks," said Yang Minghua, a local farmer, adding that the use of drones now significantly reduces transportation costs while boosting efficiency.
Previously, it took Yang 30 minutes to carry a basket of oranges down the mountain on foot. Now, as soon as the basket is filled, the drone steadily lifts the oranges and flies over the mountain, reaching its destination in just 10 minutes.
To meet rising consumer demand in domestic cities like Beijing and Shanghai, as well as international markets, Fengjie has deployed over 200 drones to overcome the bottlenecks of traditional transport.
He Yi, director of Fengjie's strategic emerging industry development center, noted that drone-assisted logistics have bolstered the overall harvesting efficiency of navel oranges in this region by more than 50 percent, while slashing comprehensive costs by about one-third.
Fengjie, notably, has expanded its navel orange planting area to 383,000 mu (approximately 25,533 hectares), with output expected to exceed 500,000 tonnes in 2025.
Once harvested, oranges are rushed to packaging centers for sorting and protective waxing before being loaded into insulated containers. To ensure freshness for overseas consumers, flights depart weekly from nearby airports, reducing transit time from days to hours.
Beyond aerial solutions, the region is optimizing its long-haul logistics. Zhou Dengping, president of Fengjie's navel orange industry association, highlighted a "road-to-water" transportation model, which utilizes a roll-on/roll-off method where trucks directly drive onto ships, thereby minimizing loading and unloading losses and costs.
This model ensures that oranges are delivered directly to supermarkets and farmers' markets in urban areas, reducing comprehensive logistics costs by roughly 20 percent.
Complementing its offline logistics efforts, Fengjie is building a "cloud-based" sales channel to expand the market reach of its oranges, leveraging live-streaming to connect farmers directly with consumers.
Shao Chenbing, a local official in Shuangnian Village, promoted the local specialty during a live-streaming session: "Our navel oranges grow by the Yangtze River, with plump, tender and juicy flesh."
Fengjie has mobilized town and village officials, along with local talents, to form live-streaming teams.
"In the past, we either waited for fruit dealers to come to the village or sold our oranges at county stalls. This year, village officials helped us with live-streaming sales, allowing us to sell up to 500 kg of oranges per day, with both prices and volumes higher than previous years," revealed Ren Zhongying from Shuangnian Village.
These teams also act as live-streaming mentors, guiding farmers in setting up accounts and creating engaging live-streaming scenes. This type of empowerment enables more farmers to conduct independent broadcasts.
Fang Gang, a former white-collar worker, returned to Daba Village in Fengjie's Yongle Town to become an online influencer. "Broadcasting from the orchard worked very well, with the majestic Three Gorges scenery and vast orange groves attracting numerous likes and attention from netizens," Fang said.
Fang added that he has accumulated over 10,000 fans and can sell hundreds of tonnes of navel oranges annually through live-streaming. ■
