Brazilian farmer's 47-foot, 8.82-inch papaya tree breaks world record

May 9 (UPI) -- A Brazilian farmer earned a Guinness World Record when a papaya tree on his property was officially measured at 47 feet and 8.83 inches tall, making it the tallest in the world.

Tarcisio Foltz said he noticed in early 2021 that a papaya tree on his property in Nova Aurora was unusually tall, so he invited Gilberto Franz, a friend and former owner of the farm, to measure it using a drone.

The pair enlisted a team of experts to make the measurement official, and the height was recorded as 47 feet and 8.83 inches. The height surpassed the previous Guinness World Record for tallest papaya tree, which was a 46-foot, 2.33-inch papaya tree grown by Jhantu Paul in India.

"I know that Guinness World Records archives and documents the very best of everything, so this is something we took seriously. It's a very big honour for me. I am very happy and very proud to be a record holder recognized by the most important institution in the subject in the entire world," Foltz told Guinness.