A major limitation associated with self-pollination in predominantly outbreeding species is the decrease in plant performance and fitness associated with inbreeding depression, i.e. the accumulation of deleterious alleles in the progeny.
What are the disadvantages of self fertilization?
The 3 disadvantages of self-pollination are as follows:
- May lead to the weakening of variety or the species due to continued self-pollination, thereby affecting the quality of offspring.
- Defective or weaker characters of the variety or breed cannot be eliminated.
Why is self fertilization a problem?
As an evolutionary and reproductive mechanism, self-fertilization allows an isolated individual to create a local population and stabilizes desirable genetic strains, but it fails to provide a significant degree of variability within a population and thereby limits the possibilities for adaptation to environmental ...
