Fertilizer for Pulses: Sagarika for Red Gram, Green Gram, Black Gram and Chickpea

Red gram, green gram, black gram, horse gram, chickpea, cow pea and soybean are the pulses most Indian farmers grow, and they are mostly grown on lighter soils and with limited water. Pulses are a crop of two halves. The first half is vegetative growth and the setting of flowers. The second is the holding of those flowers and the filling of pods. A heavy flush of flowers that does not turn into filled pods is the commonest way a pulse crop loses yield. This page explains how Sagarika fits into a pulse programme: the dose, the spray schedule and the crop by crop guidance for every pulse we cover.

One point is worth making first. Sagarika is a seaweed biostimulant. It is not a fertilizer, and it does not replace the DAP, SSP or sulphur you apply. It works on the plant rather than on the soil, helping the crop take up and use the nutrition you already give it. That is why it is applied alongside your fertilizer, and why the dose below is the same for every pulse.

What Is in Sagarika and What It Does for Pulses

Sagarika Liquid is made from two seaweeds: Kappaphycus alvarezii, a red seaweed, and Sargassum wightii, a brown seaweed, used in equal parts. Seaweed extract carries the plant growth regulators auxin, cytokinin and gibberellin along with macro and micronutrients, and the product is registered under the Fertilizer Control Order. Auxin supports root growth, cytokinin supports cell division and gibberellin supports shoot growth.

The Sagarika schedule for pulses has a basal dose and three sprays, and each of the three lands on one of the stages that matters: vegetative growth, flowering and podding. The granule is applied at sowing to support the crop from the start, and the sprays support it through the stages in which yield is made.

Sagarika Dose for Pulses

The dose does not change between red gram, green gram, black gram, horse gram, chickpea, cow pea and soybean. Only the timing changes.

 

At 5.0 ml per litre, 500 ml of Sagarika makes about 100 litres of spray solution, which covers one acre. A 1 litre bottle therefore treats two acres for one spray, and a 5 litre pack treats ten acres for one spray. A full three spray programme on one acre uses 1.5 litres.

Fertilizer for Pulses: The Sagarika Spray Schedule

Pulses get the basal granule at sowing and then three foliar sprays, timed to crop stage. DAS means days after sowing.

 

The day counts suit pulses of medium duration. Pulses differ a good deal in how long they take to mature, and the three crop stages are what the sprays are timed to. If your crop is early or late, or your season is running ahead of or behind normal, follow the stage and not the date. The crop by crop guidance below shows how that works for the longest and the shortest pulses.

Pulse Crops at a Glance

 

How to Apply Sagarika on Pulses

1. Broadcast the basal Sagarika Z++ at 10 kg per acre at sowing.

2. For each spray, fill the sprayer tank about halfway with clean water.

3. Add Sagarika Liquid at 5.0 ml per litre of the final volume. For a 15 litre knapsack tank that is 75 ml.

4. Top up with water to the full volume and mix well.

5. Spray in the morning or late afternoon, when it is cool and the wind is low. Wet both sides of the leaves evenly, and avoid spraying just before rain.

6. Mix only what you will spray that day. An acre takes about seven 15 litre tanks.

For seed treatment, mix 2 ml of Sagarika Liquid in 1 litre of water and soak the seed before sowing.

Fertilizer for Pulses, Crop by Crop

The dose is the same for every crop above. What differs is how long each pulse takes to mature and the stage each spray lands on.

Fertilizer for Chickpea (Bengal Gram)

Chickpea is the main rabi pulse of India, grown mainly in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. It is sown from October into November, often on stored soil moisture, and it grows through the cool months. The crop flowers in winter, and the flowers that set pods decide the yield.

Sagarika is used on chickpea at the dose in the table above. Apply the basal Sagarika Z++ at sowing. Make the first spray at 20 to 30 days after sowing, the second at flowering, 40 to 45 days after sowing, and the third at podding, 60 to 65 days after sowing, and keep your normal phosphorus and sulphur programme.

Fertilizer for Red Gram (Tur, Arhar)

Red gram, also called pigeon pea, tur or arhar, is the main kharif pulse of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. It is sown with the monsoon and is one of the longest duration pulses, standing in the field for five to six months. It is often grown as a sole crop and also as an intercrop with soybean, cotton or sorghum.

Sagarika is used on red gram at the same dose. Because the crop takes so long, its flowering and podding fall well after 40 to 45 and 60 to 65 days after sowing. Make the first spray in the vegetative stage, 20 to 30 days after sowing, and time the second spray to the start of flowering and the third to podding and not to the day counts. Apply the basal Sagarika Z++ at sowing.

Fertilizer for Green Gram (Moong)

Green gram, also called moong or mungbean, is grown in kharif and in summer across Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the shortest pulses, ready in about two months, so every stage comes quickly.

Sagarika is used on green gram at the same dose. Because the crop matures in about two months, the second and third sprays fall closer together than in the standard schedule, and a spray at 60 to 65 days after sowing would come at the end of the crop. Time the sprays to the vegetative stage, flowering and early podding. Apply the basal Sagarika Z++ at sowing. A report on Sagarika Liquid and granules in potato and mungbean yield is published on the trial results page .

Fertilizer for Black Gram (Urad)

Black gram, also called urad or urdbean, is grown in kharif and in summer, mostly in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. It matures in two to three months. Sagarika is used on black gram at the same dose: the basal granule at sowing and three sprays at the vegetative stage, flowering and podding.

Horse Gram and Cow Pea

Horse gram is a hardy pulse of rainfed and lighter soils, grown mainly in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. Cow pea is a short duration crop grown in kharif and in summer, both as a pulse and as a green vegetable. Both are used at the same dose as the other pulses: the basal granule at sowing and three sprays timed to crop stage.

Soybean

Soybean is on the Sagarika protocol for pulses, with the same basal dose and the same sprays at 20 to 30, 40 to 45 and 60 to 65 days after sowing. Soybean is also grown as an oilseed and has its own guide. See fertilizer for soybean for the full soybean guidance.

Using Sagarika Alongside Your Pulse Fertilizer Programme

Your base fertilizer programme stays as it is. Pulses fix much of their own nitrogen through the nodules on their roots, so the programme usually rests on phosphorus and sulphur, with a small starter dose of nitrogen at sowing. Apply them as your soil test advises, and add Sagarika on top.

Sagarika improves how efficiently the crop uses the nutrition you apply, which is a different job from supplying that nutrition. It is not a substitute for DAP, SSP or any other fertilizer, and it is not a replacement for Rhizobium culture. If you want to reduce fertilizer, test the change on part of the field first and take advice from your agronomist.

Sagarika Results on Pulses

Sagarika has been tested at Indian agricultural universities and research institutes, and the reports are published in full on the trial results page. For pulses, the page carries a report on Sagarika liquid and granules in potato and mungbean yield.

Sagarika Products for Pulses

 

Most farmers use the granule as a basal dose at sowing and the liquid for the sprays through the season. The two do different jobs and are used together.

Where to Buy Sagarika for Pulses

Buy Sagarika Liquid in 500 ml, 1 litre and 5 litre packs at shop.sagarika.com. For Sagarika Z++ granules and Sagar Amrit powder, which are not on the online shop at present, use the contact page..

More Sagarika Crop Guides

See the dose and spray calendar for every crop group on the Sagarika crop guide  [/for-crops], including field crops  [/fertilizer-for-field-crops] such as rice and wheat, and commercial crops  [/fertilizer-for-commercial-crops]. For the complete dose across all three application methods, see how to use Sagarika .