Micro-propagation is the production of whole plants from small plant parts like stem tips or meristems. It allows for the quick mass multiplication of plants through tissue culture. The key advantages are rapid cloning, off-season production, disease-free plants, and shortened breeding cycles. However, micro-propagation is also very expensive and not all plants can be successfully tissue cultured. Applications include somaclonal variation, germplasm conservation, mutation breeding, and producing disease-free plants.