
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
A farmer has a rectangular field subdivided into a 2 by 2 grid, housing 4 sections as illustrated below. The farmer plans to plant oranges, apples, pears, or cherries, with particular adjacency rules. Oranges and pears should not be planted in adjacent sections, and apples should not be planted in sections diagonally opposite to cherries. How many ways can the farmer plant these crops in his field according to these rules?
[asy]
draw((0,0)--(100,0)--(100,50)--(0,50)--cycle);
draw((50,0)--(50,50));
draw((0,25)--(100,25));
[/asy]
**A)** 8  
**B)** 12  
**C)** 16  
**D)** 20  
**E)** 24

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
user