Disadvantages of Parthenocarpy

Along with advantages, parthenocarpy has several disadvantages also. Some of these disadvantages are discussed below:

1. Reduced genetic diversity: Plants that exhibit parthenocarpy usually propagate through asexual modes. This leads to the lack of genetic diversity. As a result, some detrimental genes get fixed and chances of developing new genes are rare. This results in reduced vigour and plants also become susceptible to diseases.
2. Need for human intervention increased: Some parthenocarpic plants require specific conditions or treatments to induce fruit development. This can make them more dependent on human intervention. Yield in such case is completely based on the human expertise.
3. Cost: Some plant varieties need application of different chemicals and undergo various treatments that are both cost and labor intensive. In such cases, cultivation of parthenocarpic varieties become costly, especially for small farms.
4. Ecological impacts: Parthenocarpy is no doubt a fabulous process that has eliminated the need for pollinators and thereby increased the fruiting season of parthenocarpic varieties. However, it has several potentially negative impact on the ecosystem. Like, reduced fertility and less genetic diversity can result in more susceptibilty and less adaptability to diseases and environmental conditions respectively. This can result in extinction of a given species over time. Apart from this, the lack of seeds in parthenocarpic fruits may impact the ecology in terms of reduced food sources for seed-dispersing animals.

Lastly, parthenocarpy is a fascinating process that results in production of seedless fruits with enhanced quality. It is a significant process in agriculture and horticulture as it raises the econimic value of the yield. It occurs naturally in fruits like bananas and pineapples but can be induced artificially as well. It can broadly be classified as vegetative parthenocarpy and stimulative parthenocarpy based on their mechanism of occurence. It has been an important topic of research in field of agricultural technology and promises sustainable and efficient food production.

Also read:

• Morphology Of Flowering Plants
• Physiological Effects Of Plant Growth Regulators
• Sexual Reproduction in Flowering Plants NCERT Solutions
• Apomixis

Parthenocarpy is a process in plants that results in fruit development without the fertilization of the ovule. This process has found its importance in agriculture and horticulture as it yields seedless fruits with enhanced quality. Moreover, it does not depend on external environmental factors and promises consistent fruit yield. The fruits that result from parthenocarpy are termed parthenocarpic fruit or virgin fruits. Parthenocarpy has been an important topic of research since ancient times. Primarily it was a natural phenomenon recognized for the first time by Greeks. With the evolution of agricultural science artificial parthenocarpy was introduced and served as a giant leap in food production technology.