What primary benefit do fertilizers have on farmland? a. plants become more tolerant of droughts. b. fertilizers decrease the number of weeds in the field. c. fertilizers increase the amount of water available for plants to use. d. fertilizers return nutrients to the soil that are taken out by plants.

Farming is a difficult task, both for the people responsible and for the land. When planting crops, one thing that happens is that these plants will take nutrients from the soil and water. When these two factors are not properly taken care of, problems may arise because soil exhaustion will lead to unfertilized earth and thus there will be no plant growth, except for  weeds, that further damage agriculture. To remedy this situation, farmers and scientists with ways to return nutrients to the soil and allow it to replenish itself so that further planting can be carried out. This, is the job of fertilizers, to return nutrients to the soil that have been taken away by crops so that either new crops, or the same, can be produced. This is why the correct answer is D: Fertilizers return nutrients to the soil that are taken out by plants.