Question

What is vegetative propagation? State two advantages and two disadvantages of this method.(All India - 2017)

Answer 1

Vegetative reproduction is any form of asexual reproduction occurring in plants in which a new plant grows from a fragment of the parent plant or a specialized reproductive structure. Many plants naturally reproduce this way, but it can also be induced artificially. Horticulturalists have developed asexual propagation techniques that use vegetative plant parts to replicate plants. Success rates and difficulty of propagation vary greatly .

ADVANTAGES -

1. Plants producing seedless fruits e.g. Marsh Seedless grapefruit, Thompson Seedless grapes. Banana, Flortasun peaches, etc. can be propagated through vegetative means.  

2. Vegetatively propagated fruit plants are true to type and have less juvenile period. The tree size also remains smaller than the seedlings. More number of plants can be accommodated per hectare leading to more income from unit area.

DISADVANTAGES -

1. Although the asexually produced plants are precocious in bearing, but these have short life period than the sexually produced ones.  

2. The size is small in vegetatively produced plants hence the dead wood can fetch little price than the huge seedling trees.

Answer 2

$\large{\underline{\boxed{\mathrm\purple{Vegetative\:Propagation}}}}$

Vegetative propagation is a mode of asexual reproduction in which new plants are formed from roots, stems, leaves and buds of the individual vegetative parts of the plant. For example:- Eyes of potato.

$\large{\underline{\boxed{\mathrm\blue{Advantages\:of\:Vegetative\:propagation}}}}$

• It is a rapid economical method.
• Offsprings are genetically identical and therefore useful traits can be preserved.

$\large{\underline{\boxed{\mathrm\orange{Disadvantages\:of\:Vegetative\:propagation}}}}$

• Since plants are genetically very similar, new characters can not be introduced.
• The disease of parent plant gets transferred to the offspring.