"This giant potato weighs 11.3 kilos (24.9 pounds)," Khalil Semhat said at his farm in the Tyre area

Tyre ( sour ) is about 85 kilometers (50 miles) south of Beirut.

According to Semhat, 56, he did not use any chemicals at all and has done nothing special in growing this giant potato.

Semhat was surprised when he saw the potato and had to ask a friend to help him haul it out of the ground, AFP reported

"I've been working the land since I was a boy, and it's the first time I've seen anything like it." He said

Semhat, 56, said he had not done anything special to cultivate such a super-sized spud. "I didn't use any chemicals at all," he insisted, adding that he had to ask a friend to help him haul the huge tuber out of the ground.

Now he hopes the find will get a mention in the famous Guinness Book of Records, and said he will send in the details for possible inclusion next year.

He told AFP that he was "very proud" to have grown the enormous spud on his farm, which took a pounding in 2006 during the war between Israel and Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement.

The largest potato ever weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces ( 3.6 kg) , and was grown in 1994 by K. Sloan. Semhat's potato is 3 times larger and therefore sets a new record .

Phot: Lebanese farmer Khalil Semhat holds his giant potato