Soil is main reserve and store of nutrients for crops and trees which is major natural source of supplying food and shelter to mankind. The population in Pakistan is increasing at an alarming rate of more than 3%, which is putting further pressure on this natural resource. With the continuous cropping, soil looses its native fertility and the goal of self-sufficiency can’t be obtained without the addition of chemical fertilizers. In the process of Agricultural Development, during the past about 63 years, the major break through of high yielding varieties of cereals coupled with higher rates of fertilizer application and other technological aspects like use of herbicides for control of weeds and insecticides for insect pests. These aspects have created concerns about their impact on environment. Worries about the accumulation of nitrates in drinking water and possible pesticide residues in our food supply have caused many people to question the value of major tool of modern agriculture.
A nutrient imbalance exists when one or more nutrients are not in applied in proper ratio. This can cause deficiency, toxic level of one or more nutrients or just excess of a nutrient that is not toxic but hinders another nutrient from performing its normal function. A constant and balanced supply of elements is essential to good plant growth, otherwise nutrient deficiencies, toxicities or other effect, will cause plant nutrients stress. So soil analysis is a better diagnostic tool than other methods of fertility evaluation because it gives rapid results before sowing of the crop. By knowing the actual status of the soil and application of balanced fertilizers, the maximum and economical crop production can be obtained as well as fertility of the soil could be restored.

Nutrients are lost from the soil plant system in a number of ways including, leaching, volatilization, de-nitrification, precipitation and fixation by clay minerals. Considerable amount of nutrients are taken up from the soil in harvested crop material. For sustainable agriculture, fertility of the soil must be maintained by adding fertilizers to the soil both in natural and organic form.