Viyagappa Antony Samy from Puliyangudi in Sivagiri taluk of Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district is an extraordinary farmer. The 1943-born fourth-standard pass claims to have grown 17 ratoons – including the crop now in the field – from the ‘Co 86032’ sugarcane variety that he originally planted on a seven-acre plot in 2003. Further, his average cane yields, at 62 tonnes per acre, is way above the corresponding 30 tonnes figure for all-India and 42 tonnes of Tamil Nadu. And he is a 100 per cent organic agriculturist to boot.