"We've always wanted to do more in the agricultural field," Yasumori Ihara, a managing officer at Toyota, told a news conference.

"This is a dream come true."

When mixed with cow manure, the ingredient -- developed jointly with Menicon Co., Japan's top maker of contact lenses -- speeds up the time it takes to convert the waste into compost, to 45 days from anywhere between 90 to 180 days. The resulting compost is also of a higher quality, containing less nitrate-nitrogen, a water pollutant, Toyota said.

"After using this formula, the neighbours stopped complaining about the pungent smell," a cattle farmer who tested the magic powder, appropriately named "resQ45" for Recycle, Eco, Speed, Quality and playing on the word rescue, said in a promotional video.

Japanese farmers are burdened with the disposal of 89 million tonnes of livestock manure annually, according to official figures. One dairy cow produces 50 kg (110 lb) of waste a day.

Toyota Roof Garden Co., a Toyota subsidiary charged with manufacturing the product, Menicon and trading firm Toyota Tsusho Corp. will begin selling the formula to cattle farmers in limited areas of Japan from July 1, with a view to spreading it nationwide and to other livestock such as poultry and pigs.

The three-way partnership expects annual sales of 2 billion yen (US$17.44 million) after five years.

Toyota Motor, a pioneer of fuel-saving hybrid cars, has been dabbling in biotechnology since 1998 to fight global warming and to promote the reuse and recycling of resources. It also develops bioplastics, which are derived from agricultural products, grows flowers, rooftop gardens and fertilisers using new technologies.