Impact of sowing date and nitrogen levels on proximate composition and essential mineral profile of finger millet grains

Abstract

A field investigation was carried out during 2023 and 2024 at the Agronomy Research Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, SKUAST-K, wadura, Sopore to evaluate the influence of four sowing windows (20th, 22nd, 24th, and 26th Standard Meteorological Weeks—SMW) and five nitrogen levels (0, 20, 40, 60, and 80 kg N ha-1) on proximate composition, mineral profile, and amino acid content in finger millet grains under split plot design. Sowing during the 24th SMW significantly improved crude protein, key minerals (Ca, K, P), and essential amino acids compared to earlier and delayed sowing dates. Nitrogen application exhibited a positive and significant effect, with the highest dose (80 kg N ha-1) recording the maximum crude protein (6.33%), crude fat (1.33%), lysine (181.00 mg), methionine (217.67 mg), tryptophan (160.50 mg), calcium (343.25 mg), and potassium (410.25 mg). Conversely, delayed sowing (26 SMW) and the control treatment (0 kg N ha-1) resulted in the lowest nutritional attributes. The findings demonstrate that sowing at the 24th SMW coupled with 80 kg N ha-1 is the most effective strategy to enhance biochemical composition, mineral enrichment, and amino acid content in finger millet grains.