Question

State three advantages and three disadvantages of vegetative reproduction.

Answer 1

Hint: Vegetative reproduction is the mode of reproduction in which a new plant develops from a fragment of the parent plant. It involves the vegetative parts of the plant like stem, leaves, and roots.

Complete answer:
Vegetative reproduction is a type of asexual reproduction in plants. In this a new plant grows from the fragment of a vegetative part of the parent plant. It is usually considered as a cloning method as the off-spring is the exact copy of the parent.

Advantages of Vegetative propagation-
>The off-spring is the exact copy of the parent. All the good traits of the parent are passed on to the off-springs. Thus economically helpful for the cultivators to ensure quality consistency.
>Sexual reproduction is a costly method as well as a complex process. It involves germination of seeds which are controlled by several internal and external factors. O grafting, budding are commercially more economical and viable.
>It helps the plant to bypass the immature seedling stage to reach early maturation.

Disadvantages of vegetative propagation-
>It prevents the species genetic diversity.
>The defective genes are passed on generation after generation.
>The plants are genetically identical. So any susceptible pathogen can attack the entire species.

Note:Vegetative propagation is used for the cultivation of tubers like potatoes. It involves vegetative parts of the plant. It can also be referred to as cloning as the genome of the parent and the offspring are similar.