Final answer:
Asexual propagation is used to produce clones of plants, which are genetically identical to the parent and ideal for quickly propagating certain crops and ornamental plants.
Step-by-step explanation:
Asexual propagation is used to produce clones of a plant. This method is essential for certain vegetable crops like banana, pineapple, potato, sweet potatoes, cassava, and for many ornamental flowering plants such as geraniums and begonias. For some of these plants, like sterile hybrid bananas, asexual reproduction is crucial because they cannot produce viable seeds. In other cases, it provides a quicker and easier means of propagation by eliminating the seedling stage, which might be more sensitive to conditions than plant cuttings.
However, the disadvantage of this technique is that it creates genetically uniform populations, which could lead to widespread crop failure due to diseases such as the late blight of potato. Moreover, this method can transmit viral diseases which seeds would not carry. Asexual reproduction has also played a role in crop innovation through the selection and propagation of spontaneous mutations, leading to new varieties such as navel oranges and McIntosh apples.