Sixty-three-year-old Duraiswamy, a resident of Tamil Nadu's Erode district, loves to innovate and already has several innovations to his credit.

He has developed something fresh, an air energised pressure cooker and a multitasking steam boiler, two innovations by one talented man.

That's not where Duraiswamy's list of achievements end there is more!

Duraisamy has developed a hybrid variety of coconut tree one that yields 200 to 250 coconuts per year starting from the third year itself.

Normally, a coconut tree bears around 75 to 100 fruits per year starting from the fifth year or the 42nd month.

Duraiswamy started by selecting mature and healthy coconut trees with good yield. The trees were normally more than 40 years old.

Manual crossing

He manually crossed the mature trees with younger coconut trees. Duraiswamy then kept the hybrid seedlings in a nursery for three years.

The seedlings were then planted in small sacks filled with soil and kept for a month.

After a month, he took them out and planted them in the main field. A simple process that has brought features of two good plants together.

"I have developed a hybrid method of cultivating coconut by using the right hormones. With this method in an acre, which would generally give around Rs 5000 income, it now gives almost Rs 15,000 to 30,000 as income," said Duraiswany.

"I hope this method of cultivation can be implemented on 6,32,000 acres of land across Tamil Nadu. That is why I have come up with this method and I am helping others, " he added. "

The advantages of this process are many, the planted seedlings start yielding within two years of being planted.

Cultivated across the state

What's more these hybrid coconuts are not only rich in coconut water even the fruit also has a higher yield of coconut oil.

Over the past 15 years Duraiswamy's hybrid varieties have been cultivated in 3000 acres across Tamil Nadu.

Duraiswamy has also been recognised for his work by the National Innovation Foundation in 2001.

Duraiswamy's inspiration for this innovation came from his backyard- literally.

The land he inherited from his father was not fertile. Duraiswamy studied various aspects of developing new varieties that could flourish in that soil condition the process or trial and error continued for several years before Duraiswamy hit upon this method.

Today, most of Duraisamy's 40 acres of land is used to cultivate coconut.

At an age when most people love to sit back and relax this innovator believes he has miles to go and lots more to create.