A banana growers' society's officer argues: 'Among the growers on our list, the greater the part of a grower's plot under drip irrigation the heavier as a rule are his bunches. Ramnath has a greater part of his plot under drip than any other grower on the list. Ramnath will therefore harvest heavier bunches than any other grower on the list.' Which of the following is an assumption on which the officer's argument depends?

The officer has a rule that admits exceptions and a conclusion about one named grower, and the gap between them is closed only by supposing that this grower is not one of the exceptions. Deny it — Ramnath's plot is on a saline patch where drip does not help — and the rule stands over the list while the conclusion about him falls. Whether drip is within everyone's reach bears on why growers differ in their use of it; a grower's use of other means of watering is compatible with the rule and with the conclusion alike; and the completeness of the list would matter if the conclusion were about the district, but it is expressly about the growers on the list.