• Ginger propagates asexually with rhizomes.ginger root image by Neelrad from Fotolia.com
  
  Asexual reproduction is a method of propagation in which a single unit splits, buds or fragments into genetically similar offspring. When plants reproduce asexually, the offspring are created from the leaves, stems and roots of the parent plant. These new units grow to form identical, independent plants. In asexual reproduction, only one parent is involved in propagation, without any fusion of reproductive cells--a process that results in identical offspring. There are a number of different forms of asexual reproduction.
  
  

Binary Fission

• Binary fission occurs in protozoa, bacteria and other unicellular organisms. During the process, the parent cells go through a mitotic division that creates two new daughter cells, which grow and mature to full-size cells. After maturing, these cells also go through a similar process of reproduction. It is through the process of binary fission that the parasitic bacteria and protozoa in the human body and other host tissues multiply rapidly, leading to an escalation in infections and diseases that include tuberculosis, cholera and malaria.
  
  

Spore Formation

• The spore formation method of asexual reproduction is common in fungi, where the mature fungi cells produce swollen reproductive structures known as sporangia. The sporangia are full of unicellular cells known as spores. When the sporangia are fully mature, they burst open to release the airborne spores that germinate immediately upon landing on an optimal organic breeding surface, such as ripe fruits and damp food.
  
  

Vegetative Propagation

• Vegetative propagation is an asexual reproductive method occurring in some plants whereby the plants produce specialized organs that generate new plants without any seed production. These specialized organs include bulbs, such as onions; tubers, such as seen in potatoes; and rhizomes, as developed in ginger. All these vegetative organs produce shoot buds that eventually develop into new genetically similar offspring plants. Vegetative propagation helps in passing on all the useful qualities of the parent plant, like hardiness and disease resistance, to the new offspring plants or vegetables.