ASHGABAT (AFP) -- A new lip-smacking melon has been named in honor of Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov as this Central Asian state celebrates "Melon Day", an official said.

The new "Turkmenbashi melon" is distinguished "by its delicious aroma, excellent taste and large size," an official from Turkmenistan's food industry association told AFP.

Niyazov, an authoritarian leader elected as president-for-life by the country's parliament, likes to be known as Turkmenbashi (Chief of All Turkmens) as part of a bizarre personality cult that surrounds him.

"All Turkmens celebrate this holiday. The Turkmen melon is the source of our pride, its taste has no equals in the world, the smell makes your head spin," Niyazov said in a statement published in Turkmen newspapers.

Traditional yurts, or nomadic tents, have been set up for the holiday in the Turkmen capital selling melon-based sweets, including the popular dried melons served with tea in Turkmen homes.

Hundreds of melon-growers have gathered for the "Best Melon 2006" fair, which includes a competition for the biggest melons and free melon-tasting events for the public.

Melon Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of August every year in this largely desert former Soviet republic where melons have been grown for thousands of years.

Around 200 different types of melon are grown in Turkmenistan, ranging from "Aromatic Pleasure", about the size of a potato, to giant melons weighing up to 18 kilograms (40 pounds).