Lifecycle dynamics of agricultural green patents in china and the global context

Agriculture is both a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and highly vulnerable to climate change. While green patents are widely used to track sustainability-oriented innovation, limited research examines how agricultural climate technologies evolve across their full patent lifecycle. This study analyzes agricultural climate-related patent families using Orbit Intelligence data until 2025. Although global patterns are mapped for context, the empirical focus centers on China, which dominates worldwide filings. Using CPC and IPC classifications to identify adaptation and mitigation technologies, we examine temporal dynamics, technological composition, institutional ownership, collaboration networks, legal status, and forward citation outcomes. Results show a strong predominance of adaptation-oriented, product-based technologies, particularly in soil management and irrigation, with limited representation of digital or service-oriented solutions. Within China, patenting exhibits a compressed innovation cycle: a sharp expansion in the mid-2010s followed by substantial attrition. Nearly two-thirds of patent families are inactive. Econometric evidence indicates that inactive patents receive significantly fewer forward citations, especially those owned by universities, suggesting weaker technological visibility and limited integration into cumulative innovation trajectories. By shifting attention from patent counts to patent lifecycles, this study highlights structural features of state-driven innovation systems and provides a foundation for future research on commercialization, institutional design and climate-oriented agricultural policy.