Agricultural Sciences, 2022, 13, 1103-1116 https://www.scirp.org/journal/as ISSN Online: 2156-8561 ISSN Print: 2156-8553 DOI: 10.4236/as.2022.1310068 Oct. 26, 2022 1103 Agricultural Sciences Balanced Fertilizer Use through Soil Testing Leads to Higher Yields and Nutrient Contents of Maize Grains Adel Badr El-Nasharty, Mohamed Mostafa El-Fouly, Mohamad Farouk El-Dahshouri Fertilization Technology Department, National Research Centre, Giza, Egypt Abstract Fertilizers use can be optimized through soil testing and leaf analysis. This paper deals with using soil analysis as a base for fertilizer use in maize. A field experiment was carried out in two summer seasons of 2013 and 2014 with maize (triple hybrid) in Oraby Village, Mariut sector, Alexandria, Egypt. Soil testing shows that soil was clay loam, with high Na and CaCO 3 contents with high pH, low organic matter, medium P and K and low micronutrient con- tents (Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu), seven treatments were designed. The most prom- ising treatment was when P and K were increased and micronutrients were added based on soil testing. This treatment resulted in the highest yield with better grain contents of protein and nutrients which indicated that soil-test based on fertilizer use was superior. Soil analysis at the end of the experiment showed higher P and K contents. This approach could be adopted for regions with similar soil conditions in other parts of the world. Keywords Soil Testing, Macro & Micro Nutrients, Fertilizer Use, Maize 1. Introduction Maize is considered one of the three most important crops in the world [1], with high yielding varieties, adaptable to grow across a range of agroecological zones and also multipurpose crop [2]. Regardless of maize’s importance as a food se- curity crop, there are many factors that obstruct the comprehension of the cereal crop’s potential. Low soil fertility has been identified as a major factor in reduc- ing crop yields [3]. Use of mineral fertilizers to enhance crop production is expensive. There are How to cite this paper: El-Nasharty, A.B., El-Fouly, M.M. and El-Dahshouri, M.F. (2022) Balanced Fertilizer Use through Soil Testing Leads to Higher Yields and Nu- trient Contents of Maize Grains. Agricul- tural Sciences, 13, 1103-1116. https://doi.org/10.4236/as.2022.1310068 Received: August 13, 2022 Accepted: October 23, 2022 Published: October 26, 2022 Copyright © 2022 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access