The kharif harvest is in. Soybean has come off the fields in Latur and Akola, cotton picking is under way in Vidarbha, and across Nashik the vineyards have just been pruned for the fruiting season. For a Maharashtra farmer, the next six weeks decide most of what the rabi season will return.
This is the guide to where Sagarika Liquid fits into that season, crop by crop and district by district. It covers what to spray, when to spray it, how much to mix and what it costs per acre. Each crop then has its own detailed guide, in English or Marathi, linked at the end.
Why rabi is the season to plan inputs now
Rabi in Maharashtra is not one crop or one region. Marathwada and Vidarbha move from soybean straight into harbhara (gram) on residual moisture. The irrigated belts of Ahilyanagar, Nashik, Pune and Jalgaon sow wheat in the first half of November. Nashik, Pune and Ahilyanagar raise rabi onion nurseries now, which become the storage onion harvested in April and May. Nashik and Sangli vineyards are in the most important 60 days of the grape year. Solapur and Sangli pomegranate orchards on hasta bahar are setting fruit. And in the western sugar belt, the crushing season is opening, pre-seasonal cane is going in, and every harvested field becomes a ratoon decision.
Every one of these crops goes through stress in the months ahead: residual-moisture sowing, falling night temperatures in December, and dry spells between irrigations. That is the window a seaweed biostimulant is designed for.
What Sagarika Liquid is, in one paragraph
Sagarika Liquid is a seaweed biostimulant made by IFFCO from red and brown seaweed (Kappaphycus alvarezii and Sargassum wightii) cultivated on India's southern coast. It contains 28% w/w seaweed extract concentrate along with natural plant growth substances (auxins, cytokinins, gibberellins), amino acids, betaines and potash from the seaweed itself. It is sprayed on the leaves of a growing crop. It is not a substitute for NPK fertilizer: you still apply your normal fertilizer dose. Its job is to help the crop use that fertilizer better and handle stress. You can read more about where the seaweed comes from on The Source.
The one rule: the dose never changes, only the calendar does
Every crop in this guide gets the same dose. What changes is when you spray.
| What | Amount |
|---|---|
Dose per spray |
500 ml Sagarika Liquid per acre |
Dilution |
5 ml per litre of water |
One 15-litre pump |
75 ml |
Water per acre |
about 100 litres (6 to 7 pumps) |
Sprays per season |
3 for most crops |
Total per acre per season |
1.5 litres |
Spray in the early morning or late afternoon and cover the foliage evenly. Avoid spraying in the heat of the day or just before rain.
Cost per acre for a three-spray season: one 1-litre pack (₹650) plus one 500 ml pack (₹340) is ₹990. The 5-litre pack (₹3,090) covers about 3⅓ acres for the season, which works out to about ₹927 per acre. Prices are from the Sagarika shop and include taxes.
Crop-by-crop spray calendar for Maharashtra
The timings below come from IFFCO's published crop protocol on the For Crops page. Where a crop is not named in that protocol, we say so and explain how we have timed it.
| Crop | Main districts | Sowing / planting now | Spray 1 | Spray 2 | Spray 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Harbhara (gram) |
Latur, Beed, Dharashiv, Jalna, Parbhani, Akola, Amravati |
Late Oct to mid Nov |
20–30 days after sowing (vegetative) |
40–45 DAS (flowering) |
60–65 DAS (podding) |
Wheat |
Ahilyanagar, Nashik, Pune, Jalgaon, Nagpur |
1–15 Nov (irrigated, timely) |
15–20 DAS (crown root) |
35–40 DAS (tillering) |
90–95 DAS (flowering) |
Rabi jowar |
Solapur, Ahilyanagar, Pune, Beed |
Sown Sep–Oct |
25–30 DAS (vegetative) |
40–60 DAS (flowering) |
70–75 DAS (maturity) |
Rabi onion |
Nashik, Pune, Ahilyanagar, Solapur, Dhule |
Nursery now, transplant Dec–Jan |
25–30 days after transplanting |
45–50 DAT |
75–80 DAT |
Grapes |
Nashik, Sangli, Solapur, Pune |
Fruit pruning done in Oct |
Shoot growth |
Before bloom |
Berry development |
Pomegranate (hasta bahar) |
Solapur, Sangli, Ahilyanagar, Nashik |
Bahar treatment Sep–Oct |
Pre-flowering |
Flowering |
Every 25 days through fruit development |
Sugarcane |
Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Pune, Solapur |
Pre-seasonal planting mid Oct to mid Nov |
45 days after planting (tillering) |
90 DAP |
125 DAP (grand growth) |
Banana |
Jalgaon, Dhule, Nanded, Buldhana |
Kande bahar planting Oct–Nov |
60–70 DAP |
120–130 DAP |
Every 25 days through fruit development |
Two notes on this table. Grapes are on Sagarika's crop list but have no separate published calendar, so the grape guide times sprays by vine stage after fruit pruning. For pomegranate, IFFCO's fruit-tree protocol counts from planting or pruning, so for an established orchard we count from bahar treatment.
Region by region
Nashik belt (Nashik, Niphad, Dindori, Lasalgaon, Pimpalgaon). Grapes and rabi onion dominate. Grape sprays start now; onion sprays start after transplanting in December. A farmer with both crops will spray Sagarika on grapes in November and on onion from January, and one 5-litre pack covers the full season on about 1.5 acres of each.
Western sugar belt (Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Pune, Solapur). Sugarcane is the main crop, with grapes in Tasgaon and pomegranate in Sangola and Atpadi. Cane sprays fall at 45, 90 and 125 days after planting, which for pre-seasonal cane planted now means mid-December, late January and early March.
Marathwada (Latur, Beed, Dharashiv, Jalna, Parbhani, Nanded). Harbhara on residual moisture after soybean, with rabi jowar on the black soils. Water is short, so the first spray at 20 to 30 days after sowing, before the soil dries out, matters most.
Vidarbha (Akola, Amravati, Yavatmal, Nagpur). Harbhara and wheat after cotton or soybean. Same harbhara calendar as Marathwada.
Khandesh (Jalgaon, Dhule). Banana, with wheat in the irrigated pockets. Kande bahar banana planted now is sprayed from about 60 days after planting.
How to mix and spray
- Measure 75 ml of Sagarika Liquid for each 15-litre pump.
- Fill the pump half-way with clean water, add the Sagarika, then top up and mix.
- If you are adding an insecticide or fungicide, IFFCO's product page says Sagarika Liquid can be mixed with them, but asks that you first mix a small quantity in a jar and check for curdling or settling before mixing the full tank.
- Spray in the early morning or late afternoon, covering both sides of the leaves.
- Use the mixed solution the same day.
The full general instructions are on the General Instructions page.
Where to buy Sagarika Liquid in Maharashtra
Sagarika Liquid is sold directly by IFFCO online at shop.sagarika.com in 500 ml (₹340), 1 litre (₹650) and 5 litre (₹3,090) packs, delivered to your village. For any question on dose or availability, call IFFCO's helpline on 1800 103 1967 or use the Contact Us page.
What the evidence says
Sagarika has been tested by universities and research institutes, including ICAR's Central Institute for Cotton Research and Punjab Agricultural University, on rice, wheat, cotton, potato and mungbean. The reports are on the Trial Results page. None of these trials was run in Maharashtra, and none covers gram, onion, grapes, pomegranate or banana, so we do not quote yield figures for those crops. Farmer reports from other states, including a grape farm in Karnataka and a sugarcane farm in Belagavi district, are on the Testimonials page.
Detailed guides for each crop
- Harbhara (Marathi): हरभरा पिकात सागरिका
- Grapes After October Pruning
- Sugarcane (Marathi): पूर्वहंगामी ऊस आणि खोडवा
- Price and dose (Marathi): सागरिका लिक्विड: किंमत आणि एकरी डोस
- Rabi Wheat in Maharashtra
- Pomegranate Hasta Bahar
- Rabi onion (Marathi): रब्बी कांदा फवारणी वेळापत्रक
- Banana Planting in Jalgaon
- Cold Nights, Dry Spells: Winter Crop Stress