Success with Chinese Kangkong

Leonila has always dreamed of sending her five children to a good private school in Cebu. Back when she was still selling vegetables, she thought that this dream would be impossible to achieve.

This changed when Leonila and her husband started planting Chinese Kangkong. In their 1,500 square meter land, they could harvest 60 kilos of kangkong per day and earn around PhP 1,800 on good days. They would sell their harvest directly to the market and sometimes they would even sell house-to-house. The high quality of her harvest earned her loyal customers.

"Dahil sa Chinese Kangkong natupad ang pangarap namin," said Leonila.

Now her children are all professionals-- an Engineer, a Teacher, an Accountant and two Marine Corps Officers.

Leonila shares her secret:

"Yung pagtatanim ng gulay, pag wala kang sipag at tiyaga, di ka aangat sa buhay. Kailangan sa isang farmer marunong dumiskarte."

Watch Leonila's inspiring story here:

Leonila is one of East-West Seed's 35 Farmer Heroes. As part of its 35th anniversary in 2017, East West Seed launched a nationwide Search for 35 Farmer Heroes who have achieved success and made a significant contribution to their communities  and could serve as role models of other farmers on how vegetable farming can be used to enrich lives. East-West Seed hopes to document the success stories and best practices of the hero farmers to inspire others and to showcase the available improved technologies for vegetable production, increased productivity, improved food security, sanitation and safety thereby contributing to the country’s economic development and growth of farmers income.