A microbial fertilizer developed by Dr. Ma Lintao while conducting research in the China Space Program will be manufactured and marketed by a new joint venture in China.
The USD11 million JV named Fertilizer King is being formed by All Asia Licensing Inc. together with Beijing Xinxinshengda Biology Engineering Technology. AASI will own 55% of the JV which pans to assemble several existing microbial and organic fertilizer plants in China and convert them to produce Dr. Ma's microbial fertilizers.
AASI president Anthony Lee said that the impetus for this venture coincided with the Chinese government's launch of the 70-year Green Great Wall project.
This involves the planting of a 2,800 mile shelterbelt of trees across the northwest rim of China skirting the Gobi Desert. Additional projects to make China greener involve the changing of way farmers work their land. The National Reform and Development Commission takes the position that the use of human and animal effluents as fertilizer will be phased out. In addition, the wide use of chemical fertilizers will be curtailed. Lee added that a brand new genre of high-tech fertilizers will eventually replace them.
Experiments in microbial fertilizers in space — via China's launch of its fifth satellite in its ambitious "Compass" global satellite positioning system recently — is only the latest effort in the nation's fast developing space program. The "Beidou" or "Big Dipper" satellite was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest China's Sichuan province and has already yielded an advanced biotech line of fertilizers for BBET.
In a joint statement Lee and Dr. Ma said that for many years, both parties had been looking for a suitable partner to help market and promote these products worldwide.
The new venture will own a proprietary microbial fertilizer technology, which is currently represented by nine international patents. Dr. Ma, the chief scientist and principal of BBET, remarked that these products should be much sought after because a major part of the world's arable land has been damaged by the heavy application of chemical fertilizers since the 1960s. He believes that Fertilizer King's products will not only rejuvenate and recondition damaged soils, but they could enhance crop production by up to 25%.
The line of fertilizers, branded as "Golden Sunshine," has been widely used in China, including on the displays around Tiananmen Square during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The joint venture agreement is subject to the completion of funding.