CBSE Class 10 Science 2017 · Paper 31/1 · Question 12

Vegetative propagation is a mode of asexual reproduction in which new plants develop from a vegetative part of a parent plant — its root, stem or leaf — under appropriate conditions, without seeds. Examples: buds in the notches of a Bryophyllum leaf grow into new plants; the methods of layering and grafting raise new plants from stems. Advantages (any two): (1) Plants that have lost the capacity to produce seeds, such as banana, orange, rose and jasmine, can be propagated. (2) Plants raised this way bear flowers and fruits earlier than those produced from seeds. (3) The new plants are genetically similar enough to the parent plant to have all its characteristics, so a desirable variety is kept. Disadvantages (any two): (1) The new plants show very little variation, so they are less able to cope with a change in their surroundings, and a disease or pest that attacks one plant is likely to attack them all. (2) Undesirable characters of the parent plant are passed on along with the desirable ones.