Your Directors have pleasure in presenting the Annual
Report together with the Audited Financial Statements
of the Company for the Financial Year ended 31st March
2025.
FINANCIAL RESULTS
(' in Crore)
|
Sales & Other Income
|
166.89
|
|
Profit before Finance Cost &
|
(5.02)
|
|
Depreciation (PBIDT)
|
|
|
Profit after Tax
|
(2.50)
|
|
Surplus brought forward
|
16.64
|
|
Surplus carried to Balance Sheet
|
14.14
|
DIVIDEND
Considering the financials of the Company, no
dividend has been recommended by the Board for the
Financial Year 2024-25 ended 31st March 2025.
OPERATIONS
The year 2024-25 proved to be a mixed one for the
seed industry, characterised by contrasting trends
across major crops. Your company's domestic trade
and institutional businesses grew by 9% and 14%
respectively supported by growth in crops such as
Jowar, Bajra, Maize, Wheat, Mustard, Paddy, SSG
and Vegetables. During the Kharif 2024 season, the
industry faced shortage of hybrid Paddy seeds, along
with limited availability of Cotton seeds at the season’s
onset. Cotton has also seen shrinkage of acreages
for last two years leading to reduction in seed sale for
industry. In northern regions, the delayed monsoons
negatively impacted the demand for long-duration
Bajra hybrids.
On positive side, the Maize segment showed
encouraging growth. Acreage expanded significantly,
driven by favourable price trends and strong market
demand.
However, the mustard segment experienced a downturn
in packed seed sales. Many farmers opted to use
saved seeds to reduce costs, a trend observed across
several regions. This behaviour impacted all mustard
seed companies, including JK Agri and this led to a
noticeable dip in sales performance for the segment.
Mustard for last two years has seen a significant shift to
self-grown seed rather than hybrids by farmers in India.
There were several challenges posed by regional
political unrest and non-availability of seeds for the
export market. In Egypt, the Company has successfully
expanded sales of sorghum and introduced SSG
product, which is expected to drive growth in the
coming years. In West Africa, the company has made
significant strides in the markets of Burkina Faso,
Senegal, Togo, and Ghana, with successful trials and
registration of ECOWAS for sorghum and pearl millet.
In Bangladesh, JK Agri has successfully registered
it’s X-gene cotton after extensive trials. Commercial
sales is expected to grow from next season onwards.
In Sri Lanka, JK Agri has introduced two new tomato
hybrids and two okra hybrids, resulting in increased
sales over the previous year. Despite facing challenges
such as short supply of maize and okra, political unrest
in Sudan and Bangladesh and a stronger dollar, the
Company has achieved growth in okra, tomato, and
sorghum crops. JK Agri stays committed to grow its
exports in the coming years. However, overall exports
reduced by 3%.
During the year your Company monetised surplus land
asset, strengthening its financial position and providing
strategic flexibility for future growth. This allowed the
Company to fully repay its Working Capital Term Loan,
Working Capital Demand Loan and Cash Credit Limits.
The surplus will augment the Company's cash position
adding to its liquidity and support future growth initiatives.
INDUSTRY OVERVIEW AND OUTLOOK
India’s Monsoon forecast is optimistic for 2025, on
time and normal monsoon, which is vital for the Kharif
season. The Indian seed market size reached USD
7.8 Billion in 2024 and is expected to grow at a CAGR
of 8% to reach USD 15.0 Billion by 2033.
The agribusiness sector continues to play a pivotal
role in supporting food security and rural livelihoods.
The rapid development of the economy with the
proliferation of industrial and service sectors, has
led to significant decline in the share of agriculture in
India’s GDP. But even with a lower share of around
15 percent, the agriculture sector still remains the
leader in employment, with a share of over 46%. In
fact, the dependence on agriculture for employment
has increased by two per cent in post-pandemic
period and during that time average agricultural
growth remained robust at 4.6 percent, demonstrating
remarkable resilience.
A key part of that strength emanates from Government’s
mission mode focus to transform the agricultural sector
through various initiatives to enhance productivity and
infrastructure. The aim is to create a sustainable and
resilient agricultural ecosystem through investments
in irrigation systems, storage solutions, modernising
post-harvest management, expanding cold chain
facilities, technological advancements and improving
market access. The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada
Yojana (PMKSY) not only enables reduction in post¬
harvest losses but also ensure better prices for
farmers’ products. In addition, Government policies
such as National Food Security Mission (NFSM) and
the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana are the key drivers
for growth of Indian Seed industry.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Your Company has been constantly contributing to
the Agri sector by conducting intensified research
activities focused on developing new suitable hybrids
across various crops. The company is developing new
products by fortifying crops via deployment of marker
assisted backcross breeding program in varied crops-
viz., Paddy crop improvement against the diseases-
bacterial blight, neck blast, brown plant hopper and
yield traits. In cotton - major traits are pink boll worm
& tobacco streak virus. In Maize - major focusing traits
are drought, wilt and fall army worm; in Mustard -
downy mildew and white rust; in Tomato - tomato leaf
curl virus, bacterial wilt, late blight; chilli- chilli leaf curl
virus, CVMV, CMV, anthracnose and bacterial wilt; in
Okra- ELCV and YVMV.
Advancements in molecular approaches are
being utilised to breed crops with a wide range of
economically valuable traits to develop superior
products. Also, it is utilising the immense potential
of biotechnological tools in fostering and fortifying
traditional breeding. An integrated molecular breeding
approach has been deployed by blending traditional
breeding with advanced biotechnology. This enables
develop superior products that are high-yielding
coupled with targeted traits under stress environments
to accelerate the new product development. Strategic
field trials coupled with stringent product advancement
procedure led to identify best performing products for
wider adaptability.
The teams at JK Agri are focused on improvement
of quality of seed production by various technological
interventions, like genetic male sterility, cytoplasmic
male sterility, etc. to purify the CMS lines during
foundation and is using markers for identification/
differentiating A-line from B&R lines, reducing the
time for selection process in field. Seed production
research is being enhanced through technological
interventions to achieve cost-effectiveness and
improve seed quality, focusing on areas like
accelerated breeding, data driven decision making
which ultimately leads to better seeds and increase
in crop yield. To stay competitive, productive and
sustainable, your Company is emphasising on
use of digital platforms, artificial intelligence and
mechanisation of R&D.
OPPORTUNITIES, THREATS, RISK AND
CONCERNS
Opportunities
Technological advancements, especially through AI
and machine learning is transforming Indian agriculture,
where a phygital (physical digital) ecosystem is
empowering farmers to adopt the vast array of tools
like advisory on crop cycles, crop monitoring, nutrition
management, soil testing, weather forecast etc. as
well as financial services and market access. This not
only enables optimum resource utilization amidst rising
clamour for sustainable farm practices, but also leads to
lower costs, enhanced yields, and thus high incomes.
The Indian horticulture presents huge untapped
potential as despite being the second largest producer
of fruits and vegetables globally, it accounts for only
about two percent of global horticulture trade. India’s
comparative advantage in this segment presents
scalable export potential, especially with the likely
shift in global trade patterns. Exports opportunities are
increasing from India, as India is the largest source for
almost all seed portfolio like Sorghum, Maize, Cotton,
and vegetables. The Cluster Development Program
(CDP) for horticulture enables private enterprises
to leverage their operational excellence to create
specialised clusters focused on horticultural crops
with export potential while the Government plays the
role of facilitator. The tech-platforms are playing a
major role in improved market linkages, with farm-gate
pickup of the produce. Govt.’s Agricultural Marketing
Infrastructure sub-scheme can also be leveraged.
The ‘One Nation, One License’ project for seeds and
agri inputs is to simplify and standardize licensing
requirements across states that would reduce time
to reach the market from the current 5-8 years to 3-5
years. Last year the Government has launched 109
new high-yielding and climate-resilient varieties of 32
field and horticulture crops for farmers.
Threats, Risk and Concerns
Agriculture in India faces numerous threats that
impact productivity, sustainability and the livelihoods
of farmers.
Despite the progress made on irrigation front, a
significant part of India’s crop area remains reliant on the
vagaries of unpredictable monsoon rainfall. This along
with droughts and temperature anomalies threaten
crop cycles and yields. Fragmented landholdings,
with 9 out of 10 agricultural households owning less
than two hectares of land, presents a major challenge
as they struggle to access affordable credit and crop
insurance. It also makes it difficult for farmers to
adopt modern agricultural practices and technologies,
resulting in lower productivity and income. While the
role of middlemen has been significantly reduced, yet
they are not completely eliminated, and thus Indian
farmers remain vulnerable to exploitation and often
face price volatility and lack of transparent market
information.
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
With a vision to transform the organisation into an agile,
innovative and customer-centric entity, organisational
transformation has been the key agenda for the
year enabling opportunities in - enhanced market
competitiveness and operational efficiency, increased
employee engagement and alignment with long-term
goals and superior stakeholder value creation through
innovation and sustainability.
The adopted synergy of talent and teamwork has
helped us towards a meaningful organisational change
and improved standards of value creation for our
stakeholders. This harmonious combination has been
the cornerstone of our resilience in the competitive
industry since the very beginning.
JK Agri fosters an environment where teams thrive
by promoting a culture of continuous learning and
professional growth. The Company has been working
with internal and external faculty of elite institutions
like IIMs towards leveraging and develop skills of
high performers across all segments. Ensuring
competitive advantage, we have accelerated adoption
of technology via Super Sales App enabling the field
force with advanced robust market coverage by post
season & pre-season activities with distributors,
farmers participation in the focused products for the
identified geographies.
JK Agri for the 6th consecutive year has been certified as
a Great Place to Work-recognized by the Great Place
to Work Institute & JK Agri -Employee Engagement
Survey showed a positive increase in the Employee
Engagement levels over last year. The achieved
milestones will sharpen our objectives further in the
journey to build a High-Trust, High-Performance Culture.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Despite there being no obligation to spend any amount
on CSR activities during the Financial Year, as a good
practice, the Board of Directors unanimously approved
to make voluntary contribution of ' 5.00 Lakh towards
CSR related activities.
Our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives are integral to our business strategy and reflect your
Company’s dedication to making a positive impact on society and the environment. The main objective is to train
farmers on latest management and agricultural practices to control pests & diseases along with mitigating abiotic
stress factors. The training covers various farm management practices, importance of Seed Selection, Improving
yields, Improved Seed quality in terms of germination and genetics purity with reference to new and improved
practices, technology in alliance with specific agro-climatic regions enabling better Livelihood.
The Company has a Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) Policy in accordance with the provisions of
the Act and rules made thereunder. The CSR Policy
along with the CSR projects approved by the Board,
the composition of the Committee and other relevant
details are disclosed on the website of the Company
at https://jkagri.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/
CSR-Policy-Projects-Committee-1.pdf
The Annual Report on the CSR activities undertaken
by the Company during the Financial Year under
review, in the prescribed format, is annexed to this
Report as Annexure - CSR.
KEY CHANGES IN FINANCIAL INDICATORS
Key Changes in financial indicators, are given in the
Notes to Financial Statements.
INTERNAL CONTROL SYSTEMS AND THEIR
ADEQUACY
The Internal Control Systems includes policies, processes,
tasks, behaviours and other aspects of the Company,
which when combined, facilitate effective and efficient
operation, quality of internal and external reporting and
compliance with applicable laws & regulations.
The Company has a well-defined Internal Control
System commensurate with the size, scale and
complexities of the operations to support the
Business Operations and also to ensure Statutory
Compliances. These systems are regularly tested
for their effectiveness by Statutory as well as
Internal Auditor and were found to be operating
effectively during the year. Based on the Internal
Audit Programme approved by the Audit Committee
of the Board, the Internal Auditor carries out regular
internal audits covering all offices, factory and key
areas of business. Reports of the Internal Auditor are
placed before the Audit Committee on quarterly basis
for review. The Audit Committee undertakes a total
review of the audit observations and the actions taken
by the Management on all the findings of the Internal
Auditors. The implementation of the recommendations
of the Internal Auditors is regularly reviewed and
monitored by the Senior Management and the Action
Taken Report is placed periodically before the Audit
Committee. There are adequate checks & balances in
place, wherein deviation from the systems laid-out are
clearly identified and corrective actions are taken in
the respective areas, wherever required.
INTERNAL FINANCIAL CONTROLS
The Company has established adequate internal
financial controls for ensuring orderly and efficient
conduct of its business including its adherence to
Company’s policies, safeguarding of its assets,
prevention and detection of frauds and errors, accuracy
and completeness of the accounting records and
timely preparation of financial information. The controls
comprise a mix of preventive and detective controls,
which are manual, semi-automated and automated in
nature. The Company has followed principles such as
segregation of duties, authorisation, periodic reviews
etc, while designing the internal control framework.
The objective is to provide the management and the
Audit Committee, an independent and reasonable
assurance on the adequacy and effectiveness of
company ‘s risk management, control and governance
process. The same is being reviewed independently
by the auditors. This helps to facilitate timely detection
of any irregularities and early remediation.
Based on the review of the Internal Financial Control
Systems during the year by the Management, Audit
Committee and the Auditors of the Company, no material
reportable weakness was observed in the Internal
Financial Control Systems during the Financial Year.
ANNUAL RETURN
The Annual Return referred to in Section 134 (3) (a)
of the Companies Act, 2013 (‘the Act’) is available
on the website of the Company at https://jkagri.com/
annualreturn/
PARTICULARS OF LOANS, GUARANTEES OR
INVESTMENTS
The particulars of loans given, guarantees or securities
provided and investments made as required under the
provisions of Section 186 of the Act are given in the
Notes to Financial Statements.
CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
During the financial year under review, your Company
has subscribed 4900 Equity shares of face value of
' 10/- each i.e., 49% shareholding of JK Agri Research
Services Limited (JKARSL), a newly incorporated
Company. Consequently, JKARSL becomes an
Associate Company of your Company.
The consolidated financial statements of your
Company for the Financial Year 2024-25 have been
prepared in accordance with the Act read with the Rules
made thereunder and applicable Indian Accounting
Standards. The audited consolidated financial
statements together with Auditors' Report form part of
the Annual Report. In compliance with Section 129(3)
of the Act and Rule 5 of the Companies (Accounts)
Rules, 2014, a report on the performance and financial
position of its associate included in the consolidated
financial statements is presented in a separate
section in the Annual Report. Please refer form AOC-1
attached to the financial statements in the Annual
Report. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 136 of
the Act, the financial statements, the consolidated
financial statements along with relevant documents
are available on the website of the Company.
RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
During the Financial Year ended 31st March 2025, all
the contracts or arrangements or transactions entered
into by the Company with the related parties were in
the ordinary course of business and on arm’s length
basis and were in compliance with the applicable
provisions of the Act and the SEBI (Listing Obligations
and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015
(‘SEBI Listing Regulations’).
Further, the Company has not entered into any contract
or arrangement or transaction with the related parties
which could be considered material in accordance with
the policy of the Company on materiality of Related
Party Transactions. In view of the same, disclosure in
Form AOC-2 is not applicable.
The Policy on materiality of Related Party Transactions
and on dealing with Related Party Transactions is
available on the website of the Company.
COST RECORDS
Maintenance of cost records, as specified by the
Central Government under sub-section (1) of section
148 of the Act is not required by the Company.
DIRECTORS AND KEY MANAGERIAL PERSONNEL
During the year, the Members at the Annual General
Meeting of the Company held on 30th July 2024 have
approved re-appointment of Shri Raj Kumar Jain
(DIN: 01741527) as an Independent Director of the
Company for a second term of five consecutive years
with effect from 26th November 2024.
Shri Abhimanyu Jhaver (DIN: 02330095) has ceased
to be Director w.e.f the closing of business hours of
24th March 2025 on completion of his second term
as Independent Director of the Company. The Board
placed on record its sincere appreciation of the
valuable contributions and guidance received from
him during his tenure.
Shri Vikrampati Singhania (DIN: 00040659), Managing
Director of the Company retires by rotation and
being eligible offers himself for re-appointment at the
ensuing Annual General Meeting (AGM). The Board
recommends his re-appointment.
The Board at its Meeting held on 31st July 2025, on
recommendation of the Nomination and Remuneration
Committee, appointed Shri Pravinchandra Shivaram
Dravid (DIN: 02726180) as Independent Director of the
Company for a term of 3 consecutive years, commencing
23rd October 2025. Shri Dravid aged 74 years, would
attain the age of 75 years during his proposed
term. Accordingly, in terms of Regulation 17(1A) of
SEBI Listing Regulations, the Board recommends
appointment of Shri Dravid as Independent Director, as
aforesaid, for approval of Members of the Company by
way of Special Resolution at the ensuing AGM. In the
opinion of the Board, he possesses requisite expertise,
integrity, proficiency and experience.
All Independent Directors of the Company have
given declarations that they meet the criteria of
independence as provided in Section 149 of the Act
and Regulation 16 of the SEBI Listing Regulations.
All the Independent Directors are registered on the
Independent Directors Data Bank.
There were no other changes in the Directors/ Key
Managerial Personnel of the Company, during the
period under review.
CONSERVATION OF ENERGY, ETC.
The details as required under Section 134(3)(m) of the
Act read with the Companies (Accounts) Rules, 2014
are annexed to this Report as Annexure - 1 and forms
part of it.
DEPOSITS
The Company has neither invited nor accepted any
deposits from the public.
AUDITORS
(a) Statutory Auditors and their Report
M/s Lodha & Co LLP, Chartered Accountants (ICAI
Firm’s Registration Number- 301051E/E300284)
were appointed in the 24th AGM held on 30th July
2024 as the Statutory Auditors of the Company for
a term of five consecutive years commenced from
the conclusion of the 24th AGM till the conclusion
of 29th AGM to be held in the year 2029.
The observations of the Auditors in their Report on
Accounts and the Financial Statements, read with
relevant notes are self-explanatory. The Auditor’s
Report does not contain any qualification,
reservation, adverse remark or disclaimer. Further,
no fraud has been reported by the Auditors to the
Audit Committee or to the Board.
(b) Secretarial Auditor and Secretarial Audit
Report
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 204 of the
Act, the Board of Directors appointed Shri Namo
Narain Agarwal, Company Secretary in Practice
as Secretarial Auditor to carry out Secretarial
Audit of the Company for the Financial Year
2024-25.
The Report given by him for the said Financial
Year in the prescribed format is annexed to
this Report as Annexure - 2. The Secretarial
Audit Report does not contain any qualification,
reservation, adverse remark or disclaimer.
In terms of the provisions of Regulation 24A
of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure
Requirements) Regulations, 2015 (SEBI Listing
Regulations) and Section 204 of the Act and
the Rules made thereunder, your Directors
have recommended appointment of M/s Ronak
Jhuthawat & Co., Company Secretaries, Peer
Reviewed Company Secretary Firm, as the
Secretarial Auditor of the Company for a term of
five consecutive years for financial year 2025¬
26 to financial year 2029-30 for approval by the
Members. Requisite resolution regarding their
appointment is included in the Notice of ensuing
AGM for approval by the Members. M/s Ronak
Jhuthawat & Co., Company Secretaries, have
given their consent to act as Secretarial Auditor
of the Company and have further confirmed that
their appointment, if made, at the ensuing AGM
shall be in accordance with conditions specified
in the Act and SEBI Listing Regulations.
PARTICULARS OF REMUNERATION
Disclosure of the ratio of the remuneration of each
Director to the median employee's remuneration and
other requisite details pursuant to Section 197(12)
of the Act read with Rule 5(1) of the Companies
(Appointment and Remuneration of Managerial
Personnel) Rules, 2014, is annexed to this Report as
Annexure - 3 and forms part of it. Further, Particulars
of Employees pursuant to Rule 5(2) & (3) of the above
Rules, also forms part of this Report. However, in terms
of provisions of Section 136 of the Act, the Annual
Report for the financial year 2024-25 is being sent to
all the Members of the Company and others entitled
thereto, excluding the said particulars of employees.
Any member interested in obtaining such particulars
may write to the Company Secretary. The said
information is available for inspection at the
Registered Office of the Company during business
hours on working days of the Company upto the
ensuing AGM.
CHANGE IN THE NATURE OF BUSINESS
During the year under review, there was no material
change in the nature of business of the Company.
SIGNIFICANT AND MATERIAL ORDERS PASSED
BY THE REGULATORS OR COURTS OR
TRIBUNALS
During the year under review, there were no significant
and material orders passed by the Regulators or Courts
or Tribunals that could impact the going concern status
of the Company and its future operations.
MATERIAL CHANGES AND COMMITMENTS
There have been no material changes and
commitments affecting the financial position of the
Company which have occurred between the end of
the Financial Year of the Company and the date of
this report.
DETAILS OF APPLICATION MADE OR ANY
PROCEEDING PENDING UNDER THE INSOLVENCY
AND BANKRUPTCY CODE
During the year under review, no application is made
or any proceeding is pending under the Insolvency
and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
COMPLIANCE OF SECRETARIAL STANDARDS
During the year under review, your Company has duly
complied with the applicable Secretarial Standards on
Meetings of Board of Directors and General Meetings
issued and as amended by the Institute of Company
Secretaries of India.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Your Company reaffirms its commitment to best
corporate governance practices. Pursuant to
Regulation 34 of the SEBI Listing Regulations, a
Management Discussion and Analysis, Corporate
Governance Report and Auditors’ Certificate regarding
compliance of conditions of Corporate Governance are
made part of this Report. The Corporate Governance
Report also covers the following:
(a) Particulars of the four Board Meetings held
during the Financial Year under review.
(b) Salient features of the Policy on Nomination
and Remuneration of Directors, Key Managerial
Personnel and Senior Management
(c) Manner in which formal annual evaluation of
the performance of the Board of Directors, of its
Committees and of individual Directors has been
made.
(d) Details with respect to composition of
Audit Committee and establishment of Vigil
Mechanism.
(e) Details regarding Risk Management.
(f) Disclosures in relation to the Sexual Harassment
of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition
and Redressal) Act, 2013.
DIRECTORS’ RESPONSIBILITY STATEMENT
As required under Section 134(3)(c) of the Act, your
Directors state that-
(a) In the preparation of the annual accounts, the
applicable accounting standards have been
followed along with proper explanation relating
to material departures, if any;
(b) the accounting policies have been selected
and applied consistently and judgments and
estimates made are reasonable and prudent
so as to give a true and fair view of the state of
affairs of the Company at the end of the Financial
Year and of the profit and loss of the Company
for that period;
(c) proper and sufficient care has been taken for the
maintenance of adequate accounting records in
accordance with the provisions of the said Act
for safeguarding the assets of the Company and
for preventing and detecting fraud and other
irregularities;
(d) the annual accounts have been prepared on a
going concern basis;
(e) the internal financial controls to be followed by
the Company have been laid down and that such
internal financial controls are adequate and were
operating effectively; and
(f) t he proper systems to ensure compliance with
the provisions of all applicable laws have been
devised and that such systems were adequate
and operating effectively.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT
"Management's Discussion & Analysis Report"
contains forward looking statements, which may be
identified by the use of the words in that direction
or connoting the same. All statements that address
expectation or projections about the future, including
but not limited to statements about the Company’s
strategy for growth, product development, market
position, expenditures and financial results are
forward looking statements. The Company's actual
results, performance or achievements could thus
differ materially from those projected in such forward¬
looking statements. The Company assumes no
responsibility to publicly amend, modify or revise
any forward - looking statements on the basis of any
subsequent development, information or events.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Your directors wish to acknowledge and place on
record the commitment and dedication put in by every
employee of your Company.
Your Directors would also like to acknowledge and
record their appreciation of the continued support and
assistance received by the Company from its valued
Customers, Dealers, Suppliers, Shareholders, Banks
and Central and State Government Agencies etc.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Date: 31st July 2025 Raghupati Singhania
Place: New Delhi Chairman
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