Precision Irrigation Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- A single leader, then a thin field. five assignees account for every one of the 25 records in scope, with the top filer holding 10 and the fifth holding just 2 — there is no long tail because there is barely a middle.
- Filing already peaked and pulled back. activity crested at 6 records in 2021 and fell to 0 by 2024, a -100% swing that predates the usual 18-month publication lag.
- Claims cluster in agronomy, not electronics. A01G and A01B together cover the majority of records, while control-systems class G05B and AI class G06N barely register — the software layer is comparatively open.
Filing growth compares 2021 (6 records) with 2024 (0) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 25 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this dataset covers
This landscape draws on 25 published patent records matching precision and variable rate irrigation control — zone valve control, remote telemetry, prescription mapping, wireless nodes, battery-powered controllers and cloud scheduling — filed or published between 2015 and mid-2026. It is a narrow, technically specific corpus rather than a broad irrigation-equipment sweep, which is why the assignee count is small and concentration figures land where they do.
Records here sit at the intersection of agronomy and control engineering: variable rate irrigation prescription maps, zone-level actuation, and the telemetry and scheduling layers that connect a pivot or sprinkler system to a cloud service. Filers include specialist agtech firms, an industrial irrigation equipment manufacturer, and public research institutes, which explains why the technology composition leans toward horticulture and soil-working classes rather than pure electronics.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 25 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which technical classes those filings actually sit in.
A short, sharp filing cycle
Filing was flat through 2017, built to a peak of 6 records in 2021, then fell to 0 by 2024 — a -100% move over that three-year span. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in and should not be read as confirmation the field has gone quiet.
Agronomy classes dominate, control electronics lag
A01G (horticulture and forestry) appears in 68.0% of the 25 records and A01B (soil working) in 56.0%, the two largest classes by a wide margin. Planting and sowing class A01C covers 24.0%, while spraying (B05B) and control/regulating systems (G05B) each sit at 12.0%. Temperature measurement, material analysis and AI-based computing (G06N) each appear in 8.0% or fewer records — these are the thinnest, most open technical layers in the corpus.
Shares are the percentage of the 25 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Precision and Variable Rate Irrigation Control with Eureka
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Method and system for generating a variable rate irrigation (VRI) prescription map for large sprinkler irrigation systems
The filing describes determining a minimum management-zone length along the truss direction of a sprinkler system and a minimum zone angle along the travel direction, dividing the field into a VRI management zoning map, then setting an irrigation quota per sub-zone from a basic irrigation amount combined with a spatial distribution map of crop water deficit or soil water holding capacity.Filed by China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, published 2024-04-18.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20170251589A1 | Autonomous Integrated Farming System | 110 |
| 2 | WO2017106874A1 | Autonomous integrated farming system | 51 |
| 3 | US20190104696A1 | System and method for irrigation management using VRI ray casting algorithms within irrigation machine workfl… | 29 |
| 4 | US10149422B2 | Autonomous integrated farming system | 24 |
| 5 | US20190274241A1 | Autonomous Integrated Farming System | 14 |
| 6 | US10721857B2 | Autonomous integrated farming system | 8 |
| 7 | US20210204496A1 | System and method of watering crops with a variable rate irrigation system | 6 |
| 8 | US20220279741A1 | Decision-making Method for Variable Rate Irrigation Management | 5 |
| 9 | US20210144901A1 | Autonomous Integrated Farming System | 5 |
| 10 | CA3029134A1 | Autonomous integrated farming system | 2 |
Citation counts favour older documents simply because they have had longer to accumulate references — treat this as a signal of influence within this corpus, not a ranking of current technical importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three read-outs from the filing pattern, technology mix and citation structure that matter for anyone deciding where to file or build next.
The whole field sits with five filers
All 25 records in scope trace to just five assignees, with the leader alone holding 10. There is no long tail of small independent filers to route around — freedom-to-operate work here means clearing a small, identifiable set of portfolios rather than a crowded field.
A filing cycle that has already turned over
Activity peaked at 6 records in 2021 and dropped to 0 by 2024, a complete reversal rather than a gradual slowdown. Given the ~18-month publication lag, 2025-2026 filings are still arriving, so this should be read as a completed cycle for the 2015-2024 window rather than a verdict on the field going forward.
Control logic and AI scheduling are lightly claimed
G05B (control and regulating systems) and G06N (AI-based computing) appear in only 12.0% and 4.0% of records respectively, even though the corpus is explicitly about control and scheduling. Most claims anchor on the agronomic zoning and mapping layer instead, leaving the algorithmic scheduling and edge-control layer comparatively open.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to precision and variable rate irrigation control, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the portfolios
Five assignees account for every record in this dataset, spanning a specialist agtech controller company, an irrigation equipment manufacturer, and public research institutes.
A single filer holds the largest share
The top assignee's 10 records represent the largest single block in a 25-record corpus, concentrated around integrated farming system architecture rather than any one narrow claim.
Even the smallest ranked filer is not a one-off
The fifth-ranked assignee still holds 2 records, meaning the ranked group is five genuine portfolio holders rather than four leaders and a single incidental filer.
No ranked assignee has filed in the latest year
Every one of the five ranked assignees shows 0 records in the most recent year tracked. Combined with the ~18-month publication lag, this is consistent with a lull in newly published filings rather than firm evidence that any of these portfolios have gone inactive.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| REALMFIVE INC | 0 | — |
| INTELLIFARM INC | 0 | — |
| China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research | 0 | — |
| Valmont Industries, Inc. | 0 | — |
| United States Government, as represented by the Secretary of Health and Human Services | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a narrow, concentrated field with specific open branches. These are the natural next steps for turning that into a filing or freedom-to-operate decision.
Map claims against the five ranked portfolios
With all 25 records held by five assignees, a claim chart against just those portfolios covers the entire competitive landscape in scope — there is no long tail to add later.
Explore assignee portfolios in EurekaTest draft claims in the control and AI scheduling layer
G05B and G06N classes are the thinnest in the corpus; drafting claims there should be checked against the wider control-systems literature beyond this narrow search string.
Run a claims check in EurekaWatch for 2025-2026 publications still arriving
Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, recent-year filings from any of the five ranked assignees may still surface; a standing watch avoids missing a resumed filing cycle.
Set up monitoring in EurekaCommon questions about this landscape
The assignee ranking for this dataset returns five companies, and together they account for all 25 records in scope. The leader holds 10 records and the fifth-ranked holder still has 2, so this is a small, fully-accounted-for field rather than one with a long tail of minor filers. Anyone doing freedom-to-operate work here is dealing with a short, identifiable list of portfolios, not a sprawling one.
Filing peaked at 6 records in 2021 and had fallen to 0 by 2024, a complete reversal over that three-year span. Because patent publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 figures in the dataset are still incomplete and should not be read as a continued decline. Based on the confirmed 2015-2024 window, the field went through one filing cycle that has already run its course rather than showing steady long-term growth.
Horticulture and forestry class A01G covers 68.0% of the 25 records and soil-working class A01B covers 56.0%, making these the two dominant technical areas. Planting and sowing (A01C) appears in 24.0% of records, while spraying, control systems, temperature measurement and AI-based computing each appear in 12.0% or fewer. This means most claims in the space are anchored on the agronomic zoning and mapping side rather than the underlying control electronics.
US20240122135A1, filed by China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, covers a method for generating a variable rate irrigation prescription map for large sprinkler systems, including determining management-zone dimensions along the truss and travel directions and setting irrigation quotas per sub-zone from crop water deficit or soil water holding capacity data. It is a specific zoning-and-quota methodology rather than a broad claim over prescription mapping in general. Anyone building a competing prescription map generator should review its exact zone-determination steps closely, but the narrow scope leaves room to design around it with a different zoning methodology.
The clearest gaps sit in the control and computing layers: G05B (control and regulating systems) appears in only 12.0% of the 25 records and G06N (AI-based computing) in just 4.0%, despite the search topic being explicitly about control and scheduling. This suggests that algorithmic scheduling logic, edge/wireless node power management, and cloud-based prescription map updates are comparatively under-claimed relative to the agronomic zoning and mapping claims that dominate the corpus. A first claim in these branches would need to tie the control logic to a specific hardware or data-flow implementation to stand apart from the existing agronomy-heavy filings.
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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.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.