Question

Suggest two advantages to a farmer for using apomictic seeds of hybrid varieties.

Answer 1

Apomictic seeds are the seeds that develop without fertilisation. They develop from the somatic cells of the ovule and are identical to the parent plant.
Advantages to a farmer of using these apomictic seeds are as follows:
(i) They reduce the cost of hybrid breeding programmes.
(ii) Desirable traits can be maintained without losing the superiority of hybrids over parents (hybrid vigour), and farmers can replant these seeds year after year.