Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 25: A two-day national seminar on ‘Plants and Fungi: Polyphasic Characterization and Bioprospection’ under the aegis of the UGC-SAP DRS II program sanctioned to the Department of Botany, Jammu University, began here today.
Prof J P Sharma, Vice-Chancellor, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology of Jammu was the chief guest in the inaugural session. He said that Jammu & Kashmir is a bioresources-rich region of India with diverse climatic zones harbouring species of plants and fungi, but due to climate change, deforestation, and shrinking land use, many are moving towards extinction.
Therefore, he added, their characterization using a polyphasic approach consisting of morphological and molecular characterization is a must.
In his presidential remarks, JU Vice-Chancellor Prof Manoj K Dhar spoke on the relevance of plants and fungi in human welfare and elaborated on the advances in DNA technology that have helped to speed up the naming of plants and fungi species in recent years.
Prof Naresh Padha, Dean Academic Affairs JU, presented an overview of the Research and Academic initiatives undertaken by the University of Jammu under RUSA 2.0. He informed the audience that for improving the quality and relevance of higher education, all Departments have recently got their curriculum revised by experts from all across the country. The basic contours for implementing the NEP 2020 in letter and spirit are being worked to implement the same, said Prof Padha.
Earlier, Prof Veenu Kaul, Head, Department of Botany presented a formal welcome address while Prof Yash Pal Sharma, Coordinator UGC-SAP DRS II and Convenor of the seminar, briefed on the Special Assistance Program to the delegates.
During the inauguration function, two superannuated faculty Professors of the Department of Botany, Prof R N Gohil, and Prof Anima Langer were also honoured with Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Department of Botany, JU.
On the occasion, ‘A Textbook on Mushroom Cultivation’ jointly authored by Prof Ashok Aggarwal, Prof Yash Pal Sharma and Esha Jangra was also formally released by the dignitaries.
Dr Sikander Pal, Organizing Secretary, presented details of the two-day National Seminar. A vote of thanks was proposed by Dr. Skarma Nonzon, the co-organizing secretary while Dr Harpreet Bhatia conducted proceedings of the function.
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