Abstract: Plant factory (PF) is the product of industrialization of agricultural cultivation, and the main development direction of vegetable cultivation in twenty-first Century. It is the highest form of agricultural development in the future and the most investment value of new industry in the future. Based on the patent map of plant factory related technologies, the development status was investigated from the development trend, key technology fields, regional distribution, and rival agencies, to provide intelligence support for further development of plant factory industry and technologies by related government, companies, universities and research institutes. Research results indicated that plant factory related technologies began a rapid development around 1993 and up to now.Regional distribution of priority patents were mainly concentrated in China and Japan, followed by South Korea and the United states. Cultivation of flowers, vegetables or rice in receptacles, forcing-frames or greenhouses and hydroponics or cultivation without soil horticulture, self-acting watering devices were key technologies of R&D.China had great R&D enthusiasm towards plant factory related technologies in recent years, and applied a large number of patents.However, compared to Japan and USA, the patent quality of China was a bit lower and China lacked core patents.Thus, the technological level of China in plant factory field remained to be further improved, and the task of industrialization was still arduous.

Key words: plant factory