In the vegetable world, size really does matter, especially if you are pitting your produce against others' in the Giant Vegetable Weighing Championship.

And one farmer who has a fighting chance of taking the top prize is Mr Oliver Langheim. His 550kg pumpkin (above), which has a circumference of 4.86m, is growing 4kg to 5kg every day. Mr Langheim, who is also known as "Pumpkin Olli", is from Furstenwalde, 60km east of the German capital Berlin.

The contest, which will take place on the Buschmann and Winkelmann family farm on Sunday in Klaistow, about 56km from Berlin, will feature more than 100,000 pumpkins.

It is carried out according to international standards set by the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth. The German edition is now in its 13th year.

The winner of last year's championship grew a pumpkin that weighed 709kg. Other fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes, carrots and cabbages are also up for judging. Winners are awarded prizes ranging from €10 (S$15) to €30.

It is pumpkin-harvesting season during the months of September and October, and the Buschmann and Winkelmann family farm alone boats a harvest of 800 tonnes of pumpkins annually.