BEIJING - Thorleif Enger, chairman of Agrinos Inc, an Oslo-based biofertilizer producer founded in 2009, has high hopes for China's biofertilizer market.

The country is striving for a ninth year of higher grain output in 2012. In 2011, grain production reached a record high of 571 million tons, up 4.5 percent year-on-year.

Soil degradation is an obstacle to continuously increasing the grain harvest, agricultural experts said.

The future of the farm industry lies in biofertilizers, which make conventional fertilizers more efficient, boost yields and improve soil heath, Enger said.

He plans to launch Agrinos' products in China this year.

Enger formerly served as president and CEO of the Norway-based Yara International ASA, the world's largest conventional fertilizer producer, so he is familiar with various segments of the fertilizer market.

With China's growing population and drive for self-sufficiency in food, "I'm very optimistic about (the company's) prospects in China", said Enger.

After trials in 18 provinces, Agrinos was fully licensed by the Ministry of Agriculture in December and it can sell its products in China through a joint venture starting this year, the company said.

"We hope to see a major breakthrough in 2012," said board member Morten Bergesen, who is CEO of Havfonn AS, the Bergesen family's investment company, one of Agrinos' major financial backers.

More than 70 percent of China's arable area is low- to middle-yielding land, said Chen Shengdou, director of the National Agro-Technical Extension and Service Center at the Ministry of Agriculture.

Degradation of arable land "has continued deepening, largely caused by overuse of fertilizers", Chen said.

Just using more fertilizer hasn't kept raising yields. From 1975 to 2005, the boost to food production in China achieved by the same amount of fertilizer declined about 50 to 60 percent, said Li Jun, deputy director of the Center for Quality Testing and Supervision for Microbial Fertilizer and Edible Mushroom Spawn at the Ministry of Agriculture.

"Overuse of conventional fertilizers has also caused serious environmental pollution," Li said.

Biofertilizers, by contrast, could change the picture, experts said. "Biofertilizers could help boost yields and rebalance nutrients in the soil more efficiently and at a lower cost," Li added.

The government has encouraged the development of the biofertilizer industry during the past decade. Industry data show that China has more than 800 companies that specialize in making biofertilizers.

Annual production of biofertilizers has been 8.5 million tons in recent years. But the development of biofertilizers doesn't completely knock conventional ones out of the picture.

"Biofertilizers complement the conventional ones. (The use of biofertilizers) may only reduce the amount of conventional fertilizers farmers need to use by enhancing (their) efficiency," said Enger.

China Daily