In a deep autumn orchard, a red tracked vehicle slowly moves between rows, briefly stopping, aligning, and drilling—delivering medication precisely to the effective root zone around the main roots with almost no disturbance to the surface. "In the past, treating root rot relied on manual digging and luck with the weather. Now, with this 'root-targeting' machine, the medicine is delivered in just 30 seconds!" exclaimed Uncle Liu, an orchardist at Longling Farm in Ganzhou, Jiangxi, grinning as he leaned against an orange tree. The machine he praised is the "Targeted Root Precision Dosing Machine" developed by Nanjing Forestry University's "Root Solution" project team.

Longling Farm grows premium navel orange varieties like "Newhall" and "Gannan Early," but frequent root diseases such as Huanglongbing and citrus canker, coupled with inefficient traditional pesticide application, once led to declining yields, poor quality, and rising costs. Since the introduction of the precision dosing machine, the orchard has seen a revival—disease cure rates have risen to 90%, annual costs have been reduced by over 1.15 million yuan, and the farm has successfully established a "green organic navel orange" brand, becoming a benchmark for technology adoption in the Gannan navel orange region.

Traditional manual pesticide application relies on human judgment, often resulting in large positioning errors and damage to primary roots. Team leader Shi Yuan explained that the "Targeted Root Precision Dosing Machine" achieves one-stop "positioning-dosing" operations through three core technological breakthroughs. Deployed in orchards in Nanjing, Taixing, and Ganzhou, a single machine can cover 400 acres per day, increasing pesticide utilization to 60%–80% while cutting application costs by more than 50%, supporting the green transformation of the fruit industry. Notably, the device is innovatively compatible with both solid and liquid multi-modal pesticides, meeting the needs of various fruit trees, including pears, kiwifruit, and navel oranges.

Over two years, the team overcame numerous challenges, refining the device through three iterations. It has now been demonstrated across 5,000 acres, directly benefiting 312 orchard households and preventing economic losses exceeding 4.5 million yuan.