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Australian farmer grows record 743 kg pumpkin

Xinhua, February 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

An Australian farmer has set a new national record for the heaviest pumpkin in Australia and New Zealand.

Dale Oliver's winning pumpkin weighed at 743 kg during the Summerland Pumpkin Competition held in northern New South Wales ( NSW).

Oliver has been the nation's top pumpkin grower for many years and in 2013 broke his 575 kg record with a 619 kg pumpkin.

He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Monday that his record breaking Atlantic Giant pumpkin only took 75 to 80 days to grow.

However, Oliver needs to grow them bigger in order to make a world record.

The Guinness World Record for heaviest pumpkin at 1,054 kg (2, 323 pounds) belongs to Switzerland grower Beni Meier.

And he said American farmers were even growing bigger ones.

"Nowadays all them guys over in America, actually all around the world, keep sourcing the biggest genetics and they just seem to be getting bigger, bigger and bigger," Oliver said.

"Back when they had them at 1,500 pounds they were wondering if they'd get to 2,000, now they're looking to break 2,500 pounds ( about 1,134 kilograms)." Endi