Aligarh: Inaugurating a national seminar on 'Plant Biotechnology: Advances, Impact and Relevance' under the auspices of University Grants Commission- Special Assistance Programme (UGC-SAP) (DRSI) programme of the Department of Botany, Prof. P.K. Abdul Azis, Vice Chancellor, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) said that advances in Biotechnology have generated newer opportunities for resource conservation, utilization and modification of plants to yield sustainable benefits.

Professor Azis said that Tissue Culture offers lot of opportunity and urged the faculty members to produce and market it.

He suggested that the Department of Botany should organize its centenary celebrations in a big way and invite its alumni for the advancement of this department.

Earlier welcoming the delegates, Prof. Arif Inam, Chairman of the Botany Department said that intermediate standard in Biology was granted in 1911 and Dr. Saeeduz Zafar Khan was the first Chairman of the Department of Biology.

At that time, the department imparted teaching up to the intermediate level only and prepared students for the entrance test of Calcutta and Lucknow Medical Colleges and the Agra Medical School.

After the inception of the University, the Department of Botany and Zoology were established as independent units in 1923 and Prof. Hadi Hasan took over as the first Chairman of Botany. Later the department started postgraduate teaching in 1930.

Prof. Inam pointed out that in the field of research, projects of more than two crores have already been completed and projects of about 2.6 crores are in progress by funding agencies UGC, DBT, DST, UPCST and BARC.

In terms of research, Botany Department has produced more than 300 PhDs., 210 M.Phils. so far and about 3500 research papers in national and international journals have been published.

Organising Secretary of the National Seminar, Prof. M. Anis said that the Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi sanctioned major project to the tune of Rs.70 lakhs to conduct one-year Advanced Diploma (Post M.Sc.) course in PTC and Micropropogation, which we have successfully started for the session 2009.

Prof. Anis said that Plant Tissue Culture has been viewed as a key technology for enhancing the capability for the production of large quantities of planting material of selected, elite high yielding varieties to boost production and productivity.

Tissue culture is rapidly becoming a commercial method of propagating new cultivation, rare species and difficult to propagate plants.

Prof. Asif Ali Khan, Dean, Faculty of Life Sciences said that at present the Department of Botany has thirteen Professors, ten Readers and three Lecturers while seven Readers are in the Women's College with thirty supporting staff.

The Department is running courses at under graduate and post graduate levels followed by M.Phil. and PhD programmes.

Guest of Honor, Prof. S.N. Reina said that AMU is a second home town for Jammu and Kashmir students.

He said that all prominent peoples of J&K were graduated from AMU and this institution has played a vital role for the promotion of higher education.