Vegetative propagation does NOT include:
Vegetative propagation defined strictly as formation of new plant from somatic organ outside sexual process: bulb comprised of fleshy scale leaves enclosing short stem as in onion and garlic, corm solid compressed stem storing starch in gladiolus, tuber swollen underground stem with axillary buds eyes in potato, rhizome horizontal stem with nodes in ginger, runner stolon in strawberry. These structures originate from meristem and carry preformed buds capable of sprouting under favorable moisture. Seeds, in contrast, derive from double fertilization event where one sperm fertilizes egg forming diploid zygote and second fuses with polar nuclei forming triploid endosperm, producing genetically variable offspring. Therefore inclusion of seeds within vegetative methods inaccurate and distinction influences seed certification, quarantine and propagation protocols for breeding programs. This understanding supports competitive exam preparation for NEET, GATE and CSIR NET concepts linking genotype with phenotype through molecular pathways involving transcription factors, hormones and metabolic enzymes that regulate development, adaptation and reproductive biology in applied breeding programs.
Ref: Hartmann & Kester Principles vegetative vs seed; NCERT Class XII Vegetative Propagation; ICAR Handbook.