Diagnosing plant nutrient deficiencies for maize (Zea mays) yield under mixed farming systems of Northwest Ethiopia

A decline in soil fertility is the major factor for global food production. Determining the extent of plant nutrient deficiencies for a given crop, soil, and environment is key to nutrient management. Thus, this experiment was initiated to investigate the yield-limiting plant nutrients for maize productivity in North West Ethiopia. It was arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The treatments were comprised of omitting N (All-N), P (All-P), K (All-K), S (All-S), B (All-B), and Zn (All-Zn) nutrients. Then, NPKSZnB (All), recommended NP (RNP), no fertilizer (NF), and recommended NP with S (RNP + Sx1) treatments were included. The application of different nutrient kinds significantly ( p ≤ 0.001) affected grain yield. The highest grain yield (7.1 t ha − 1 ) was achieved from the treatment that received N and P nutrients. While the omission of KSZnB nutrients had no discernible effect as compared to NP nutrients. The lowest grain yield (1.3 t ha − 1 ) was recorded from the no-fertilized treatment, followed by N omitted treatment (1.4 t ha − 1 ). Without N nutrient application, grain yield was decreased by 29–80%, while the absence of P decreased grain yield by 5–40%. Therefore, N, followed by P nutrients, is the most yield-limiting nutrient for maize productivity in Ethiopian soils. So, optimizing the rate of yield-limiting nutrients is required for judicious use of fertilizers and contributes to food systems. We suggest a timely assessment of the inherent nutrient-supplying capacity of soils for fertilizer addition to improve crop productivity and environmental sustainability.