Vegetative Propagation

methods - theory
Ebenezar Asaah
ICRAF-WCA/HT
BP 16317 Yaounde, Cameroon
Tel: (+237) 223 75 60
Fax: (+237) 223 74 40
Email: e.asaah@cgiar.org
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African Humid Tropics Regional Programme – World Agroforestry Centre

Topics for discussion

 Definition of vegetative propagation

 Vegetative propagation methods
 Rationale for vegetative propagation
 Application of vegetative propagation
in the domestication of Agroforestry
trees: case of Allanblackia

African Humid Tropics Regional Programme – World Agroforestry Centre

Definition of Propagation

 What is propagation?
 Propagation is the natural mechanism
by which plants regenerate.
 Propagation is most often by seeds
produced by a plant

 or by plant parts like vines, roots,

tubers, stem cuttings etc..

African Humid Tropics Regional Programme – World Agroforestry Centre

Vegetative Propagation

 Asexual propagation (vegetative propagation)

= reproduction of plant material from
vegetative organs (leaf, stem, root, bud) so
that the offspring will contain the exact
characteristics of the parent plant with
regards to genotypes and health status.

African Humid Tropics Regional Programme – World Agroforestry Centre

Vegetative Propagation method…1

Cuttings: severed uninodal

leafy shoot or root fragments
usually place into a suitable
rooting substrate and kept
under high humidity in
propagators until adventitious
roots and shoots are formed
respectively.

African Humid Tropics Regional Programme – World Agroforestry Centre

 Allanblackia propagation by cuttings

Cuttings in propagator
Coppice shoots

CS of propagator
Weaned cuttings 6

African Humid Tropics Regional Programme – World Agroforestry Centre

Vegetative Propagation method…2
 Grafting is a technique
used to untie ‘parts’ of
different plants by bring
the cambium of each
into contact and then
creating a situation
under which the cut
surfaces can unite and Field grafted AB wilding
Yaounde, Cameroon
grow away together.
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African Humid Tropics Regional Programme – World Agroforestry Centre

 Grafting terminologies

 Scion -The part of the

graft that will provide the new
system. The scion maybe
united either at the apex or
side of the rootstock.

 Rootstock – the lower

part of the graft. It normally
posses a root system that will
support the subsequent shoot
development from the scion

African Humid Tropics Regional Programme – World Agroforestry Centre

Grafting of Allanblackia

African Humid Tropics Regional Programme – World Agroforestry Centre

 Grafting of Allanblackia

side tongue whip and tongue side veneer graft

 Grafting
experiments
registered 80 %
100
survival rate in
A. gabonensis
80
% survival

60
40 and flowering
20 while still in the
0
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
nursery.
Time (weeks)

Effect of grafting techniques on survival of A.

floribunda grafts

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African Humid Tropics Regional Programme – World Agroforestry Centre

 Grafting of Allanblackia
Shade Light

100

90

80

70
% s u rv iv a l

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
3 5 7 9 11
Time (week)

Effect of shade & light on survival of A. floribunda in situ grafts

 In situ grafting of A. floribunda wildings and coppiced

shoots under shade open light registered 45% vs 35%
survival rate respectively. 11

African Humid Tropics Regional Programme – World Agroforestry Centre

 Vegetative Propagation method…3
 Air layering (marcotting) technique
is similar to cuttings with the
advantage that the propagule is
detached from the parent tree only
after development of roots.
 Its multiplication rate is lower than that
of cuttings
 Used in capturing the attributes of elite
trees within genetically diverse wild
populations, so avoiding the long, slow
process of tree breeding.
Rooted Marcot

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African Humid Tropics Regional Programme – World Agroforestry Centre

Air layering Allanblackia trees

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African Humid Tropics Regional Programme – World Agroforestry Centre

 Capture of traits by air layering

Noel cultivar
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African Humid Tropics Regional Programme – World Agroforestry Centre

 Vegetative Propagation method…5
Micropropagation specialized propagation with small
pieces of plant tissues on artificial media under
sterile conditions.
It embraces the regeneration from:
shoot & root tips,

callus tissue,

 leaves,

seed embryo,

anthers and even single cells.

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African Humid Tropics Regional Programme – World Agroforestry Centre

When is it appropriate to use
vegetative propagation
 When the species in question:
 is an out breeder;
 is dioecious;
 has recalcitrant seeds;
 has low germination rates;
 flowers and fruits erratically and;
 to capture their genetic diversity.

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African Humid Tropics Regional Programme – World Agroforestry Centre

Rationale for vegetative propagation.…1
 Maintaining superior genotypes
 Most tropical tree species are outbreeders
implying that through the recombination of genes
during sexual reproduction, many important
characteristics might disappear. If a superior
individual tree has been identified by farmers or
researchers, its genetic information can be 'fixed'
through vegetative propagation, thus allowing the
reproduction of the same superior individual in the
next generation

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African Humid Tropics Regional Programme – World Agroforestry Centre

 Creation of a cultivar
Variation in Allanblackia fruits

Anticipated earlier fruiting, smaller trees

and uniform quality Allanblackia fruits

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African Humid Tropics Regional Programme – World Agroforestry Centre

 Rationale for vegetative propagation.…2
 Problematic seed germination and
storage
 Some tree species produce seedless
fruits (e.g. off-season Dacryodes edulis,)
and need to be propagated vegetatively,
others bear fruit very scarcely or
erratically (Prunus africana) or seeds
difficult to gereminate (Allanblackia spp).
 In these cases, vegetative propagation
might be a suitable and cheaper
alternative to seedling production.

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African Humid Tropics Regional Programme – World Agroforestry Centre

 Rationale for vegetative propagation.…3

Shortening time to flower and fruit

 Most vegetative progaules

originate from scions or
cuttings from mature trees, and
maintain the characteristics of
maturity after grafting or
rooting.

Flowering Allanblackia graft 20

African Humid Tropics Regional Programme – World Agroforestry Centre

 Rationale for vegetative propagation.…4
 Combining more than one genotype in one plant
 Grafting is a unique way of combining desired
characteristics from two or more plants into a single one.
 Graft scions with particular fruit characteristics onto
rootstocks with other desirable characteristics:
 disease resistance and adaptability to environmental
constraints.
 Another possibility is the grafting of more than one cultivar
or species onto the same stem, for example Irvingia
gabonensis (sweet fruits) grafted to an Irvingia wombolu
(bitter fruits) rootstocks and a male AB pollinator branch
grafted to a female tree.

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African Humid Tropics Regional Programme – World Agroforestry Centre

 Rationale for vegetative propagation.…5

 Uniformity of plantations
 For many commercially
grown species, Irvingia spp,
Dacryodes edulis, Cola spp,
Allanblackia spp. etc.
uniformity of growth form or
fruiting season is important
economically.
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African Humid Tropics Regional Programme – World Agroforestry Centre

 Application of vegetative
propagation in Tree domestication
 Selection and Capture of desirable traits
 Suitable techniques include layering (marcotting) and
grafting
 Mass propagation
 Suitable techniques include propagation by cuttings and to
a lesser extent grafting. Micropropagation is most suitable
but expensive and skill demanding.
 Tree Improvement
 Vegetative propagation techniques can provide an exact
copy of the mother tree from which the seed was harvested
and retain the desired fruit quality in the following
generation if the traits are heritable
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African Humid Tropics Regional Programme – World Agroforestry Centre