Building a vegetable harvester to free vegetable farmers' hands
Recently, a treasure invented by Yu Lian'gen, a villager of Lixin Village, Zhuqiao Town, Pudong, Shanghai - a walk-behind small gasoline-electric hybrid green leafy vegetable harvester - drew a report from the CCTV program "I Love Inventions." It is understood that this machine can "pick vegetables," has obtained a national utility model patent, and has greatly freed up the productive capacity of vegetable farmers.
Doing agricultural invention, crossing the river by feeling the stones
Many years ago, Yu Lian'gen made some money in business. To develop this "vegetable harvester," he spent 3 years and nearly 2 million yuan. He did not want to make money from it; he only wanted to fulfill a dream of "freeing vegetable farmers."
In the 1,800 sq m factory building, various lathes, gantry welding machines and other equipment sit quietly. Bursts of conversation break the silence. Yu Lian'gen's "invention team" is discussing how to improve their green leafy vegetable harvester. Over the past 3-plus years, they have gathered here almost every Saturday. The invention team is not large, with only 5 people.
The "main force," besides Yu Lian'gen, also includes Zhou Zongliang, a senior engineer at the Shanghai Agricultural Machinery Research Institute, and Gui Kunlong, an old master in machinery.
"There is no small green leafy vegetable harvester in all of Shanghai or even the whole country, so we wanted to change that state of affairs." It was this one idea that brought these people together.
During the invention process, problems were solved one by one, and by the beginning of 2014, the three had settled on the overall plan.
Gasoline-electric hybrid went through hundreds of "accidents"
With the plan in place, turning it into an actual result was not easy. In the empty factory building, sighs and arguments often rang out - those were the "debriefing meetings" among the three after each failed test.
On the gasoline-electric hybrid alone, the three argued countless times. After experiencing hundreds of "accidents" such as excessive voltage, excessive current, and burned-out motors, the three finally found the most suitable choice - batteries used in new energy vehicles.
"The gasoline-electric hybrid is one of the highlights of our harvester," Yu Lian'gen said. On May 8, 2015, the national utility model patent application was submitted, and on September 2, authorization came through. When it was first tested in farmland in the Pudong suburbs, the harvester was very "impressive" and operated well. Everyone saw it and was happy in their hearts.
Not afraid of trouble, benefiting vegetable farmers and having no regrets in old age
Now, this team has built 5 more identical harvesters, preparing to hand them over to several farms for testing, "to find and solve all the possible problems and defects."
To many people, Yu Lian'gen's invention is "fussing around." As a rural entrepreneur, living in a 4-story "mansion" and with no worries about food or drink, if he had not done anything about inventing a harvester, old Yu's days should have been leisurely and comfortable.
That is indeed the case. In the years of researching the harvester, Yu Lian'gen invested a large amount of time and money. But he does not regret it. "If there is a harvester, vegetable farmers will save much more effort in growing vegetables," Yu Lian'gen said.
He calculated that one mu of Indian aster needs 20 people and a full day to finish harvesting. If a harvester is used, only three people are needed to operate it, and the same workload can be completed in 2 hours. "Indian aster, small bok choy, crown daisy, and so on can all be harvested with our harvester." Their ultimate goal is to see this harvester mass-produced and put into use. "To be able to benefit more vegetable farmers, then even in old age I will have no regrets." Zhang Lei, Wang Haiyan