Ruby Samonte

Story

“East-West Seed brings me closer to the farmers-- understanding their needs and working with them. Hearing their success stories about farming inspires me a lot. This fulfills my purpose and mission in life which is to help our farmers and contribute to the food system.”

Fresh out of college, Ruby joined East-West Seed in 1995 as a watermelon breeder. It was not an easy start for Ruby as she started with no extensive background in farming, and had to be away from her family. East-West Seed then was also in its early years, hence, it had very limited resources and Ruby had to do a lot of manual activities and conventional farming approaches. With her perseverance and the support of her colleagues, Ruby thrived in her role. 

Ruby is passionate about research. Over the years, she has led and conducted numerous research activities for the company in the areas of Vegetable Breeding, Seed Production, and Seed Technology. She demonstrated agility, growth mindset, and servant leadership, enabling her to successfully lead different teams within the company. 

Currently, Ruby is the Research and Development Manager of East-West Seed. She leads a dynamic team of breeders and researchers to ensure the effective implementation and success of the company’s numerous breeding programs, resulting to more improved vegetable varieties for the farmers and consumers. 

Bio

Team : R&D Research/Biotechnology

Current position : Research and Development Manager

Works for East-West Seed since : 1995

Based in : Philippines

Education

Master of Science in Agriculture major in Crop Science
Mariano Marcos State University

Bachelor of Science in Agriculture major in Plant Breeding and Genetics
University of Southern Mindanao

Other Team Members

Mary Ann Sayoc

Mary Ann is the Public Affairs Lead for the East-West Seed Group. In this role, she represents EWS globally in various policy...

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Irene Sion

"I'm a daughter of a farmer, working in East-West Seed is my simple way of helping my fellow farmers."Irene’s journey w...

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Ard Groot

Ard Groot comes from seven generations of seedsmen who formed the foundations of the Dutch seed industry in Enkhuizen, The Ne...

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Simon Groot

Simon N. Groot is the founder of East-West Seed and the World Food Prize Laureate 2019.Simon Groot is a 6th generation descen...

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Girlie F. Banaña

Farmers' productivity the measure of success. As one of the longest-serving team members, since 2000, Girlie is very fam...

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Dilip Rajan

Dilip is the Chief Operating Officer on the East-West Seed Managing Board. He joined East-West Seed as General Manager for In...

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Julius Sulit

“I like working for East-West Seed because its sense of purpose to serve farmers is beyond and above me. I remember one...

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Arthur Cabacungan, Jr.

“East-West Seed has a culture of continual career growth which allows flexibility in showcasing talents that leads to b...

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Jay Lopez

Jay has over 24 years of experience in pharmaceutical, nutritional, and consumer health products within the Philippine and In...

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Cathlea Barote

Cathlea is East-West Seed's Chief People Officer with extensive HR experience, both at country and regional level.As CPO, Lea...

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Joost van Elzakker

Joost is East-West Seed's Chief Commercial Officer ensuring we maintain strong connections with - and development of our prod...

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Katalin Pákozdi

Katalin is East-West Seed's Chief R&D Officer, leading the company's breeding strategy and direction.Katalin brings the r...

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Jean-Christophe “JC” Filippi

Jean-Christophe “JC” Filippi is the Chief Executive Officer of the East-West Seed Group. Prior to joining Ea...

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Alkeen Ingal

With over 20 years of experience in trade sales and farm operations, Alkeen is a seasoned professional in the agricultural in...

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Maaike Groot

Maaike Groot is a 7th generation member of a family of seedsmen. After building a career in art sales and academic publishing...

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Thibaut P. Terlon

Thibaut is the Chief Financial Officer of East-West Seed. He joined the company in 2024.Thibaut has vast expertise in navigat...

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