Question

. Radhika wanted to cook some potatoes. When she went to take the potatoes from the tray, she
noticed that some potatoes had sprouted from certain places. She sowed the potato in soil and to
her surprise new potato plants arose from that single potato.
a) Which method of reproduction is this? Name another plant that can be propagated by
this method.
b) State two advantages that this method has over those plants that are produced from seeds.

Answer 1

Answer:

(a) Potatoes are grown by vegetative propagation; that is, small tubers or pieces of tubers are planted. Food crops such as cassava, sweet potato, sugarcane, pineapple, banana, onion, etc. are propagated vegetatively.

(b) Advantages of vegetative propagation:

• The process makes possible the production of seedless varieties such as banana, orange, rose, jasmine etc.  
• As compared to the plant propagation by seeds, it a rapid, cheap and easier method of plant propagation. For example, certain plants such as lilies which usually take few years to flower can be made to do so within a year by this technique.  
• It helps in the preservation of useful parent characters in the next generation.  
• The method can be used for plants which can be easily grown in gardens due to their small size.