Post-Harvest Processing & Storage Patent Landscape
The post-harvest processing and storage space encompasses 6,432 patent families dominated by a small cohort of Japanese and Russian agricultural machinery specialists, with Iseki & Co. Ltd and the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Biological Plant Protection virtually tied at the top. The field has reached maturity—annual volume plateaued near its 2020 peak and has eased since—yet China’s filing offices and a growing Chinese university cohort sustain meaningful ongoing activity.
A duopoly at the top, with a fragmented mid-tier below
Iseki & Co. Ltd leads the ranking with 529 patent families, followed immediately by the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Biological Plant Protection with 527 patent families—a gap of just two families. Below these two leaders, the ranking drops sharply: Satake Corporation holds third place with 121 patent families and Kaneko Agricultural Machinery Co. Ltd fourth with 106.
The top five filers account for 36% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers, indicating a moderate concentration at the summit with a large fragmented mid-tier beneath. No single player commands a commanding share alone; rather, the duopoly co-leads while scores of mid-tier firms and universities each hold modest positions.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ISEKI & CO LTD | 529 | |
| 2 | All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Biological Plant Protection | 527 | |
| 3 | Satake Corporation | 121 | |
| 4 | Kaneko Agricultural Machinery Co. Ltd | 106 | |
| 5 | Shizuoka Seiki Co. Ltd | 64 | |
| 6 | Kubota Corporation | 56 | |
| 7 | Henan University of Technology | 56 | |
| 8 | Jiangsu University | 53 | |
| 9 | Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution (Russia) | 52 | |
| 10 | Anhui Zhengyang Machinery Technology Co. Ltd | 50 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Bayer CropScience AG | 49 | |
| 12 | Houkoku Kogyo Co. Ltd | 47 | |
| 13 | Anhui Sunmiro Agricultural Technology Co. Ltd | 46 | |
| 14 | Shenzhen Saibang Tourism Development Co. Ltd | 44 | |
| 15 | Hubei Yewei Oils Group Machinery Co. Ltd | 42 | |
| 16 | Anhui Chenyu Mechanical Technology Co. Ltd | 41 | |
| 17 | Hubei Ye Wei Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd | 40 | |
| 18 | Jiangxi Dalong Heavy Industry Co. Ltd | 39 | |
| 19 | CTB Inc. | 38 | |
| 20 | Iseki Agricultural Machinery Co. Ltd | 38 |
The near-parity between the top two suggests neither has achieved a decisive portfolio lead, leaving the competitive frontier genuinely contested. Japanese machinery firms (Iseki, Satake, Kaneko, Shizuoka Seiki, Kubota) cluster in the top ten alongside the Russian institute and a rising group of Chinese universities and machinery companies, reflecting divergent national innovation strategies in this space.
Patent publications typically lag filings by 18–24 months, so activity recorded for 2024–2026 understates true recent filing levels. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
A maturing filing curve with drying and food preservation dominating the technology mix
The annual filing trend reveals a field that peaked in 2020 and has since plateaued, while the technology composition chart shows that grain drying (F26B) and food preservation (A23B) together account for the plurality of activity—establishing clear incumbent-dominated territory.
Annual filing trend
Annual filings rose to a peak of 885 patent families in 2020, then eased: volumes in 2021–2024 fluctuated in the 590–885 range rather than recovering to the 2020 high. The 2025 and 2026 figures (457 and 53 respectively) are heavily affected by publication lag and should not be read as real declines.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
F26B (Drying) is the single largest branch, followed closely by A23B (Food preservation) and A01F (Threshing & crop processing). Together these three branches constitute the core of the field. Downstream and adjacent branches—biocides, fermentation, sieving, conveying, and containers—each represent a far smaller slice, pointing to areas where coverage is comparatively thinner.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Fan mount for grain drying and storage bin
An improved grain drying and storage bin of the type having side walls and a perforated floor defining a plenum chamber and a grain drying and storage chamber and an improved fan mounting therefor. The fan mounting arrangement includes an opening in the sidewall, a fan mounted with a portion above the level of the perforated floor, an angled housing… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ochrobactrum anthropi bacteria which degrade monil… | 141 |
| 2 | System for transporting grains to grain storage fa… | 121 |
| 3 | Grain aeration systems and techniques | 104 |
| 4 | Method and means for grain drying optimization | 90 |
| 5 | Grain drying system with high efficiency dehumidif… | 90 |
| 6 | Grain dryer system | 85 |
| 7 | System and method for regulating agriculture stora… | 83 |
| 8 | Computer controlled grain drying | 77 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
What the competitive structure means for R&D investment decisions
China-centric geographic footprint shapes where new entrants and incumbents can most productively deploy R&D resources.
Plateau stage: peak passed, activity stabilised
The lifecycle evidence places this field at maturity: annual filings plateaued near the 2020 peak of 885 patent families and have not recovered to that level. A multi-year recent-window decline of 7% (after adjusting for lag) reinforces the plateau reading. New entrants face a densely covered core in drying and food preservation, making differentiation through adjacent or cross-disciplinary claims more defensible than head-on coverage in the dominant branches.
Mature fieldDuopoly at the summit, fragmented below
The top five filers account for 36% of the hundred largest filers’ combined output—moderate concentration rather than a monopoly. The near-parity between the top two (Iseki & Co. Ltd at 529 and the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Biological Plant Protection at 527 patent families) means neither can block competitors through portfolio dominance alone. The long tail of mid-tier applicants—including Chinese universities and machinery firms—indicates ongoing distributed innovation.
Moderate concentrationIndustry–institute partnerships are the dominant co-filing pattern
The most active co-filing pair is Iseki Agricultural Machinery and Iseki & Co. Ltd (15 joint filings), reflecting an internal corporate R&D structure. Beyond that, Henan University of Technology and its affiliated design institute filed 6 joint patents, Satake Corporation co-filed with its manufacturing subsidiary 5 times, and Shizuoka Seiki co-filed with the Research Association for Biotechnology-based Specific Industrialisation 4 times. The pattern suggests that collaboration here is typically between a manufacturer and a closely affiliated research or engineering entity, rather than broad cross-industry consortium work.
Affiliated-entity co-filingChina dominates filing volume; Japan and Russia follow
China is the leading filing jurisdiction by a wide margin. Japan ranks second and Russia third, consistent with the nationality of the top applicants. The United States, India, South Korea, and the EPO each record significantly lower volumes. PCT (WIPO) filings are modest at 105 records, suggesting limited global prosecution strategy among most filers—an observation that may signal licensing and enforcement exposure outside home markets for international players.
China-centric geographyGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| Iseki Agricultural Machinery Co. Ltd | Iseki & Co. Ltd | 15 |
| Henan University of Technology | Henan University of Technology Design & Research Institute Co. Ltd | 6 |
| Satake Corporation | Satake Seisakusho Co. Ltd | 5 |
| Shizuoka Seiki Co. Ltd | Research Association for Biotechnology-based Specific Industrialisation | 4 |
| Kubota Corporation | Tonan Kogyo Co. Ltd | 3 |
| Yamamoto Seisakusho Co. Ltd | Shizuoka Seiki Co. Ltd | 2 |
| Yamamoto Seisakusho Co. Ltd | Research Association for Biotechnology-based Specific Industrialisation | 2 |
| Yamamoto Seisakusho Co. Ltd | Satake Corporation | 2 |
| Yamamoto Seisakusho Co. Ltd | Sapporo Kisetsu Co. Ltd | 2 |
| Kaneko Agricultural Machinery Co. Ltd | Research Association for Biotechnology-based Specific Industrialisation | 2 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Iseki and the All-Russian Institute lead by technology route and filing history
The two leading applicants hold nearly identical totals but pursue distinct technology emphases: one is concentrated on grain drying machinery, the other spans biological crop protection, fermentation, and food preservation.
Iseki & Co. Ltd
Iseki & Co. Ltd leads with 529 patent families, with its technology focus concentrated on grain drying equipment (F26B 17 and F26B 25) and threshing and crop processing (A01F 25). The closely affiliated entity Iseki Agricultural Machinery shows a sharply declining recent momentum (down 77% versus the prior period), suggesting the combined group’s filing pace has eased from earlier highs—consistent with the field’s broader maturity.
families: 529All-Russian Scientific Research Inst. for Biological Plant Protection
With 527 patent families, the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Biological Plant Protection is essentially co-equal with the leader. Its technology emphasis spans threshing and crop processing (A01F 25), fermentation and enzymatic synthesis (C12P 1), and food preservation (A23B 9)—a broader biological and biochemical profile than the machinery-focused Japanese leaders. Momentum data for this entity is not broken out separately in the recent-period evidence.
families: 527| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Iseki & Co. Ltd | 3 | ▼ -77% |
| Satake Corporation | 1 | ▼ -94% |
| Shizuoka Seiki Co. Ltd | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
| Jiangsu University | 15 | ▲ +25% |
| Henan University of Technology | 20 | ▲ +82% |
Under-served branches adjacent to the dominant drying and preservation core
Several IPC branches sit at the periphery of the dominant F26B/A23B/A01F core with relatively low patent-record counts, representing areas where coverage is thinner and technical adjacency to post-harvest applications is plausible.
A01N · Biocides & Agrochemicals
With 721 patent records, A01N is the largest of the lower-share branches but accounts for only 3% of the overall IPC mix. Post-harvest biocide and agrochemical treatments—fungicides, sprout inhibitors, and post-harvest surface treatments—are technically adjacent to food preservation and have clear commercial value in reducing spoilage and extending shelf life. The All-Russian Institute’s biological focus and the presence of Bayer CropScience AG in the ranking suggest some incumbent coverage, but the branch remains comparatively sparse relative to drying. Entry paths include microbial-based treatments and novel coating chemistries that would complement existing storage systems.
Search this in Eureka →C12P · Fermentation & Enzymatic Synthesis
C12P (Fermentation & enzymatic synthesis) registers 547 patent records—3% of the mix—and appears primarily through the All-Russian Institute’s portfolio. Enzymatic and fermentation-based post-harvest interventions (e.g., enzyme treatments to slow ripening, fermentation-derived preservatives) are an active research direction in food science but are underrepresented here relative to mechanical drying and threshing. Jiangsu University’s focus on food preservation (A23B 7) and microorganisms (C12N 1, C12R 1) suggests a pathway via university-led research collaboration for teams looking to build positions in bio-based post-harvest treatments.
Search this in Eureka →How leading applicants differ across technology routes
Route coverage across the main technology branches in the current evidence set.
| Player | F26B 25 · Drying | A23B 9 · Food preservation | A01F 25 · Threshing & crop processing | F26B 21 · Drying | F26B 17 · Drying |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Biological Plant Protection | Absent | Strong · 323 | Strong · 525 | Absent | Absent |
| Iseki & Co. Ltd | Strong · 250 | Absent | Emerging · 57 | Emerging · 31 | Strong · 396 |
| Yamamoto Seisakusho Co. Ltd | Moderate · 36 | Absent | Moderate · 37 | Absent | Strong · 88 |
| Satake Corporation | Strong · 44 | Absent | Absent | Moderate · 28 | Strong · 59 |
| Anhui Zhengyang Machinery Technology Co. Ltd | Strong · 45 | Moderate · 21 | Absent | Strong · 34 | Moderate · 19 |
| Kaneko Agricultural Machinery Co. Ltd | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Strong · 81 |
| Anhui Chenyu Mechanical Technology Co. Ltd | Strong · 28 | Strong · 30 | Absent | Strong · 20 | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus in scope contains 6,432 patent families. China is the leading filing jurisdiction by patent-record count, followed by Japan and Russia.
Iseki & Co. Ltd leads with 529 patent families, virtually tied with the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Biological Plant Protection at 527 patent families. Satake Corporation (121) and Kaneko Agricultural Machinery Co. Ltd (106) rank third and fourth respectively.
The field is at maturity. Annual filings peaked at 885 patent families in 2020, plateaued in subsequent years, and the recent multi-year window shows a 7% decline. This is a past-peak plateau rather than a growth phase.
F26B (Drying), A23B (Food preservation), and A01F (Threshing & crop processing) are the three dominant branches. Together they account for the large majority of patent records in the corpus. Adjacent branches such as A01N (Biocides), C12P (Fermentation), and B07B (Sieving) are comparatively sparse.
China leads by a large margin, followed by Japan and Russia. The United States, India, South Korea, and the EPO each record substantially lower patent-record counts. PCT (WIPO) filings total 105 records, indicating that global patent prosecution strategies are limited among most filers in this space.
The most-cited patents by citation count concentrate on grain aeration systems, grain drying optimization and control (including computer-controlled drying), and grain transport to storage facilities. One highly cited patent relates to Ochrobactrum anthropi bacteria that degrade mycotoxins, reflecting interest in biological approaches to post-harvest quality management.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from PatSnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
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