Vegetative Propagation of Palms

Abstract

In agriculture and horticulture, it is often desirable to have genetically uniform planting material. This can be achieved by using seed from inbred lines, or producing F₁ hybrid seed between such lines. Inbreeding is widely practised with annual crops, e.g. cereals, but with cross-pollinating perennials an inbreeding programme usually requires too great a time to be useful. An alternative method of obtaining uniform planting material is by vegetative propagation, traditionally by grafting, taking cuttings, or using bulbs or tubers; many horticultural and perennial tree crops are propagated by such methods. The possibility of using tissue culture for vegetative propagation is also being investigated for several crops and is already used, on a commercial scale, for propagation of some ornamental plants.