Based on 40 field experiments carried out in Yongji, Jiutai, Lishu and QianGuo counties of central Jilin province from 2013 to 2016, the application effects and applicability of two recommended fertilization methods (i.e. soil testing and formulated fertilization (ST), and nutrient expert system (NE)) were compared by investigating grain yield, plant nutrient uptake, fertilizer use efficiency and apparent nutrient balance in one-season rice area. The results showed that the average rice grain yield was 9.17 t/hm² in the farmer practice fertilization (FP) treatment, the average grain yield was 9.21 and 9.24 t/hm² in ST and NE treatment, respectively, which were higher than that of FP, but there were no significant difference. The agronomic efficiency of nitrogen fertilizer in NE treatment was higher than that in ST treatment, and agronomic efficiency of phosphorus fertilizer in ST treatment was higher than those in FP and NE treatments, while there was no significant difference in agronomic efficiency of potassium fertilizer. Overall, no significant difference was observed in plant nutrient uptake and fertilizer recovery efficiency among the FP, ST and NE treatments. For the apparent balance of nutrients, soil nitrogen in three treatments all showed evident surplus, and the value followed the order of FP > ST > NE, while soil phosphorus and potassium showed slight and dramatical deficit, respectively. There were differences in the performance between different regions, the grain yield, plant nutrient uptake and fertilizer agronomic efficiency were relatively lower in ST treatment than those in NE treatment in Qianguo county, and this was different from the other three regions. In conclusion, both ST and NE methods showed well application effects on reducing fertilizer rate, maintaining high grain yield and increasing fertilizer use efficiency in the one-season rice area of central Jilin Province. The applicability of two methods were both well in semi-humid region (i.e. Yongji, Jiutai and Lishu), however it was relatively better for NE than ST in semi-arid region (i.e. Qianguo).