In Nashik, Niphad, Dindori, Tasgaon and the Baramati belt, October is fruit-pruning month. The canes cut back this month carry the bunches you will harvest between February and April. What the vine does in the next 60 days, from bud break to berry set, decides how many bunches it carries, how evenly they set and how big the berries can grow.
This guide covers where Sagarika Liquid fits into those 60 days: three sprays timed to the vine's stages after fruit pruning, how to mix them, what they cost and what to keep separate.
What happens in the 60 days after fruit pruning
Every vineyard is a little different, depending on variety, pruning date, weather and the rest-period management, but the broad sequence after October pruning in Maharashtra looks like this:
| Days after fruit pruning | What the vine is doing |
|---|---|
|
0–12 |
Paste applied, buds swell and break |
|
12–30 |
Shoots grow, leaves open, bunches become visible |
|
30–45 |
Bunch elongation, flowering |
|
45–60 |
Fruit set, berries start to grow |
|
60–100 |
Berry development, sizing |
Two stresses hit this period every year. Night temperatures fall through November and December, which slows shoot growth and berry sizing, and dry, windy days pull water from young leaves faster than roots can replace it. The work of these 60 days is to keep the canopy growing and the flowers setting through both.
Where Sagarika Liquid fits
Sagarika Liquid is IFFCO's seaweed biostimulant, made from red and brown seaweed (Kappaphycus alvarezii and Sargassum wightii) cultivated on India's southern coast. It carries 28% w/w seaweed extract with natural auxins, cytokinins and gibberellins, amino acids, betaines and seaweed potash. It is a foliar spray that supports growth and stress tolerance. It is not a fertilizer and does not replace your nutrient schedule: your fertigation and nutrient sprays continue as planned.
Grapes are on Sagarika's crop list, but IFFCO has not published a separate grape calendar. Its general rule for every crop is three sprays: one in early growth, one before flowering and one after flowering. Below, we have mapped those three sprays onto the vine's stages after October pruning.
The three-spray schedule after fruit pruning
| Spray | Days after fruit pruning | Vine stage | Why it's timed here |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
20–25 |
5–6 leaves on new shoots |
Supports canopy build-up as nights start cooling |
|
2 |
30–35 |
Bunch visible, before flowers open |
Supports the vine going into bloom |
|
3 |
50–60 |
After fruit set, berries 3–4 mm |
Supports early berry growth |
Example: For a vineyard pruned on 10 October, spray 1 falls around 30 October to 4 November, spray 2 around 9 to 14 November, and spray 3 around 29 November to 9 December.
Avoid spraying during full bloom. Spray 2 should go on before the flowers open, and spray 3 after set.
How much to mix
IFFCO's published dose for Sagarika Liquid is:
| What | Amount |
|---|---|
|
Dilution |
5 ml per litre of water |
|
One 15-litre pump |
75 ml |
|
One 200-litre drum |
1 litre |
|
Dose per acre per spray |
500 ml |
|
Three sprays per acre |
1.5 litres |
A note for vineyards. The 500 ml per acre figure assumes about 100 litres of spray water per acre. A full grape canopy sprayed with a blower usually takes more water than that. IFFCO publishes the dose as 500 ml per acre at 5 ml per litre and does not publish a separate figure for high-volume orchard spraying, so if your canopy needs much more water to cover, call IFFCO on 1800 103 1967 before changing the dose.
How to mix
- Fill the tank half-way with clean water.
- Add the measured Sagarika Liquid and stir.
- Top up and spray the same day, early morning or late afternoon.
- Cover both sides of the leaves and the developing bunches evenly.
What to keep separate
Vineyards in Maharashtra run a tight spray programme: fungicides for downy and powdery mildew, plus growth regulators like GA for bunch elongation and berry sizing.
- Fungicides and insecticides. IFFCO's product page says Sagarika Liquid can be mixed with insecticides and pesticides, after a small jar test to check for curdling or settling. Do the jar test with your exact product every time.
- GA, CPPU and other growth regulators. IFFCO has not published anything on mixing Sagarika with these. Grape growers time GA and CPPU very precisely, so keep them as separate sprays and don't mix them with Sagarika.
What it costs
| Pack | Price | Covers |
|---|---|---|
|
500 ml |
₹340 |
1 acre, 1 spray |
|
1 litre |
₹650 |
2 acres, 1 spray |
|
5 litre |
₹3,090 |
10 acres, 1 spray, or about 3.3 acres for all three sprays |
For one acre and three sprays, a 1-litre pack plus a 500 ml pack costs ₹990. With the 5-litre pack, it is about ₹927 per acre. Prices are from the Sagarika shop and include taxes.
What the results show, and what they don't
IFFCO's Testimonials page reports a grape farm in Kolavanahally, Chikkaballapura district, Karnataka, growing Dilkush and Bangalore Blue, where yield went from 39.42 to 48.41 tonnes per hectare with Sagarika, an increase of 22.8%. That is one farm, in Karnataka, on varieties that are different from the Thompson Seedless and its clones grown across Nashik and Sangli. It shows what one grower recorded, not what every vineyard will get. There is no university trial of Sagarika on grapes on the Trial Results page yet.
Where to buy
Sagarika Liquid is sold directly by IFFCO at shop.sagarika.com in 500 ml, 1 litre and 5 litre packs, delivered to your address. For dose questions, call 1800 103 1967 or write through the Contact Us page.
For the full rabi calendar across Maharashtra crops, see the Maharashtra Rabi 2026 Crop Calendar.