Precision agriculture and patented innovation: State of the art and current trends

The present study analyzed the trends in patenting in the field of Precision Agriculture (PA) since the late 1970s, when the potential application of microprocessor‐based technology started to show its dramatic effects on agriculture. The patenting activities analyses conducted focused as first on the evolution of the terms that historically have been used to indicate the common principles linked to the concept of precision agriculture, to mine relevant keywords within massive datasets such as patent documents. Then, the rationale was to impose a sorting approach based on different criteria: (i) field of application (Positioning and Guidance Technologies; Information and Communication Technologies ICT; Measuring Technologies; Reacting Technologies); (ii) sensory technology (Positioning; Optical; Electro-chemical; Mechanical); and (iii) farming practices (Sowing; Fertilization; Protection; Irrigation; Harvest). The number of grants collected included 2003 results, with an enormous increase in the number of precision agriculture-related patents registered in the last years. This study emphasizes the central role of ICT and Global Positioning technologies in supporting several measuring and response technologies, highlights the increasing relevance of environmental sensors and image devices, notes the rise of unmanned vehicles in agricultural patents, and underscores fertilization as a dominant subject for patent activity among the farming practices.