Final answer:
Farmers protect crops using crop insurance, crop rotation, genetic modification, and weather forecasting. Crop rotation improves soil and reduces pests, while genetic modification creates drought-resistant and pest-resistant crops. All options are correct.
Step-by-step explanation:
Farmers in the U.S. implement several techniques to protect their crops, including crop insurance as a financial safety net, crop rotation to improve soil fertility and break pest cycles, genetic modification of plants to enhance resistance to stressors such as drought or pests, and utilizing weather forecasting tools to plan agricultural activities accordingly.
Crop rotation is an ancient practice that involves growing different types of crops in a recurring sequence on the same plot of land. This method not only improves the soil's nutrient levels but also reduces the need for pesticides by disrupting the life cycles of pests and diseases.
Additionally, genetic modification plays a critical role in modern agriculture, allowing the development of crops with specific traits that can endure extreme environmental conditions. Through biotechnology, scientists are able to identify and transfer genes that make plants more resilient to factors like drought and salinity into crop varieties that are more desirable for farming. All options are correct.