Context or problem: Soil nutrient deficiency is one of the significant challenges in grain production, particularly nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). These deficiencies not only reduce crop yields but also cause associated environmental issues, such as soil structure deterioration and ecosystem services diminution. Objectives: This research aimed to investigate the long-term effects of NPK fertilizers on soil nutrient properties and maize phenology, further on the grain yield, and to evaluate the nutrient use efficiency and soil nutrient balance under different fertilization managements. Methods: A long-term field experiment was initiated in 1990 in a summer maize field in the North China Plain, including five fertilizer treatments: CK (control), NP, NK, PK, and NPK. The soil nutrient properties, maize yields, crop nutrient uptake amount, nutrient recovery efficiency (NRE), nutrient harvest index (NHI), and soil nutrient balance were annually evaluated from 2005 to 2022. Results: Significant improvements in maize yields were found under NPK (9081 kg ha- 1 ), NP (6426 kg ha- 1 ), and PK (2668 kg ha- 1 ) compared with CK (1809 kg ha- 1 ) and NK (1656 kg ha- 1 ). The yield increase was mainly attributed to: (1) enhancing in soil nutrient properties, such as soil organic carbon, soil total N (TN), available N (AN), total P (TP), available P (AP), and available K (AK), and (2) the shortened vegetative period, leading to greater sunshine hours (SH) and accumulative growing degree days (GDD) during the reproductive period. Furthermore, a random forest analysis quantified their importance to grain yield, showing that the edaphic factors (mainly SOC, TN, AK, AN, TP, AP, C:N, and N:P) explained a much greater proportion of yield variation compared with phenological factors (mainly GDD during tasseling and physiological maturity stages, and SH during tasseling stage). Additionally, the significantly higher response ratio of both N and P to NRE and NHI implied that N and P fertilizers having a more pronounced impact on improving nutrient use efficiency than K fertilizer. In terms of soil nutrient balance, a most relative soil nutrient balance was detected under NPK treatment, avoiding either substantial nutrient depletion or accumulation under any nutrient deficiency conditions. Conclusions: Soil deficiencies in N and P had more severe impacts on maize yields and nutrient use efficiency compared with K deficiency. Additionally, a balanced NPK fertilizer regime effectively managed soil nutrient balance. Implications or significance: These findings elucidate the roles of N, P, and K fertilizers in maize production and soil nutrient conditions from a long-term field experiment, which could provide valuable insights for optimizing fertilization management strategies.
