What is an advantage of using asexual reproduction in crop plants?
A) It can reliably produce many crop plants with a desirable characteristic.
B) It increases genetic variation.
C) It only requires wind pollination.
D) It reduces the chance of a new disease spreading through all the crop plants.
▶️ Answer/Explanation
Ans: A
Asexual reproduction produces genetically identical offspring (clones), which ensures all plants inherit desirable traits from the parent. This makes it highly reliable for mass-producing uniform crops (Option A).
Option B is incorrect because asexual reproduction reduces genetic variation. Option C is irrelevant (asexual reproduction doesn’t involve pollination), and Option D is false (clonal crops are more vulnerable to diseases). Thus, the correct answer is A.
The diagram shows a strawberry plant.
Which labelled part of the plant can only be produced by asexual reproduction?
▶️ Answer/Explanation
Ans: D
The runner (stolon) labelled D is a specialized stem that grows horizontally along the ground, producing new plantlets at its nodes. This is a form of asexual reproduction (vegetative propagation), where genetically identical offspring are formed without seeds.
Other labelled parts (A: flower, B: fruit, C: leaf) can be involved in sexual reproduction or are not reproductive structures. Thus, D is the correct answer as it exclusively represents asexual reproduction in strawberries.