Mumbai: Organic cotton from Punjab may find a market in Europe, especially Germany, as there is a great demand for the product there, state finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal said.

Punjab started the project for growing organic cotton in Abohar as it was found to be of great demand in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, Badal told a business meet of ambassadors and commercial counsellors of Arab and African countries organised by Assocham in Chandigarh.

The world over, there is a new craze for natural products. For the past five years, the fashion capitals of the world have been hosting events, exhibitions and competitions to promote eco-friendly fashion, including this year''s Fashion Is In My Nature trade show in Paris, Is Green the New Black? campaign in London, and the green-themed `Fashion Week'' in Brazil.

Bags from unbleached cotton and jeans made of organic fabric from Peru and Turkey and made in worker- and environmentally-friendly factories in Africa are the new trend in fashion world.

Punjab is trying to cash in on this new craze, he said, adding agriculture is the backbone of Punjab''s economy and the government is making high investments in the agriculture sector.

"We are on the threshold of adding value to our agriculture and are going for fruit and vegetable processing in a big way. Textile and food parks are being set up at different places while two juicing plants are coming up in Abohar and Hoshiarpur as we are promoting citrus cultivation," he said.

Punjab despite being one of the smaller states of the country in terms of land area, contributes 22 per cent of India''s wheat production, 10 per cent of rice, 12 per cent of cotton, 33 per cent of milk and 25 per cent of honey and "all of this is possible because we have highly mechanised agriculture", the minister pointed out.

He also offered to give the state''s expertise to the African countries in agriculture. The government could sponsor a delegation of progressive farmers to Ethiopia to give help and advice, he said.