Vegetative methods of plant propagation: I- cutting layering and budding

Abstract

The fruit plants are propagated by two main methods, namely, sexual method and asexual method. Most of the fruit plants do not produce seedlings true-to-type. Using the asexual method of propagation the fruit plants produce true-to-type (clones) of the parent plant. Moreover, these plants also produce uniform yield, fruit size and quality. Although seedling plants produce heavy crop, the fruit size and quality is inferior and do not fetch good return in market. The seedling plants for several fruit crops have long juvenile period and have more vigorous growth habit, which creates difficulty in taking plant protection measures and harvesting of fruits. The fruits of seedling plants do not mature in one stroke and hence, affect the marketing. The asexual methods of plant propagation are of the four types, Cutting, Layering, Budding and Grafting. In this communication we present review on the Cutting, Layering, and Budding methods of plant propagation. The cutting method includes root, stem, scion and leaf cutting methods of vegetative propagation. The layering method category encompasses the Natural, Simple, Tip, Compound or Serpentine, Trench, Mound and Air layering methods. The budding method of the asexual propagation includes, T/Shield, Inverted T/Shield, Chip, I, Patch, Forkert, Flute and Ring/ Annular Budding methods.