Why is vegetative propagation practised for growing some types of plants?
Vegetative propagation is practised for growing some types of plants for several important reasons. First, plants raised by vegetative propagation can bear flowers and fruits earlier than those produced from seeds. This is advantageous for agricultural purposes.
Second, this method makes possible the propagation of plants such as banana, orange, rose and jasmine that have lost the capacity to produce seeds. These plants can only be reproduced through vegetative means.
Third, all plants produced by vegetative propagation are genetically similar enough to the parent plant to have all its characteristics. This ensures that the desirable traits of the parent plant are preserved in the new plants.
Explanation
The textbook explicitly lists three main advantages of vegetative propagation in Section 7.2.5: (1) earlier flowering and fruiting compared to seed-grown plants, (2) enabling reproduction in plants that cannot produce seeds, and (3) producing genetically similar offspring that retain parent characteristics. These three points directly answer why the practice is used.