Abstract:
Mechanization of the apple industry refers to the process of using mechanical equipment to replace or assist manual operations in various aspects of apple production, including soil preparation, seedling planting, fertilization, mowing, pruning, flower thinning, bagging, bag picking, and transportation, in order to improve production efficiency, reduce labor intensity, and lower production costs. Due to the extremely low mechanization rate in apple production processes such as picking, bagging, pruning, and thinning, the existing machinery is mostly semi-automatic or designed with a single function, lacking the Internet of things the integration of AI and other technologies, poor adaptability of hilly and mountainous orchards, constraints on cost sharing due to small-scale operations, and weak skills and promotion systems for farmers. This article focuses on exploring the advanced technology experience of apple mechanization at home and abroad. Through studying the current development status of advanced machinery in the apple industry at home and abroad, it points out that technological innovation, agricultural reconstruction, policy empowerment, and service model innovation, the transformation from dense planting with tree rootstock to wide row planting with low rootstock, the key link of domestic substitution and intelligent upgrading, and the construction of a bridge service model between small farmers and large machinery are the development strategies to solve the current problems. At the same time, suggestions are put forward to promote the mechanization of the apple industry in Gansu Province.