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Hanry Wilson of Upper Rangemore in Umguza has a torrid time lifting his pumpkin which is thought to weigh around 30kg

Angeline Mpofu Chronicle Reporter
A Bulawayo farmer has grown an unusually large pumpkin weighing around 30kg at his plot in Upper Rangemore. Hanry Wilson, 51, could hardly lift the giant pumpkin without assistance.A crowd gathered around Wilson to catch a glimpse of the “wonder” harvest when he visited Chronicle offices yesterday morning.

“I have been monitoring these pumpkins grow but I didn’t think they would grow this big,” said Wilson. “I have never grown such a big pumpkin in all my years as a farmer.”

He said he bought the seed at a local farm shop in the city centre and planted last November.
“I noticed that the pumpkin was growing fast,” said Wilson.

Asked what could have caused the crop to grow that big, Wilson replied: “I think good rains and manure contributed to the growth of these pumpkins because there are three of them that grew to this abnormal size.”

An agronomist, Davison Masendeke, said a pumpkin can grow beyond 30kg depending on the breed and management of the crop by the farmer in terms of fertility and watering.

Wilson, a vegetable farmer, said he was keen to share the seed with other farmers.