The two-day UGC-SAP (DRS-II) National Seminar on “PLANTS AND FUNGI- POLYPHASIC CHARACTERIZATION AND BIOPROSPECTION” concludes at the Department of Botany, University of Jammu, Jammu. This two-day national event was conducted in hybrid mode in which more than fifty delegates from across the Country participated through virtual mode, while a similar number attended it in the offline mode. Prof. A.K. Koul, founder member of the erstwhile Department of Biosciences and a renowned botanist of National and International repute was the Chief Guest of the valedictory function organized in the Seminar Hall of the Department.  During the valedictory function Prof. Veenu Kaul, Head of the Department formally welcomed Prof. A.K. Koul-Chief Guest, Prof. Seema Langer, Guest of Honor and Prof. T.N. Lakhanpal, Special Invitee along with invited speakers and delegates attending the event in both online and offline mode. Prof. Yash Pal Sharma, Co-ordinator, UGC-SAP (DRS-II) and convener of the seminar apprised the participants about the various research accomplishments under different thrust areas of research achieved under the SAP funding over the last 4 years. The report of the two-day national seminar was presented by Dr. Sikander Pal, organizing secretary. Dr. Pal informed the august gathering about the proceedings of the National Seminar in which four technical sessions were conducted both in the Online and offline mode. Invited lectures were delivered by academicians and scientists of National and International repute including, Prof. Felix Bast, Central University of Panjab, Bathinda, Dr. Sidhi K. Jalmi, Goa University, Dr. Anzar Ahmad Khuroo, University of Kashmir, Dr. Gitanjali Yadav, Senior Scientist, NIPGR, New Delhi, Prof. P.K. Pati, Department of Biotechnology, Guru Nanak Dev University and Prof. T.N. Lakhanpal, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla in the offline mode. Invited lectures by Dr. K.V. Radha Krishnan NIIST, Thiruvananthapuram and Prof. D.J. Bhat from the University of Goa were arranged in the online mode using the ZOOM platform with the support of Director IT, Er. Anik Gupta, Mr. Narinder and Mr. Azhar. The sessions of the invited lectures were chaired by Prof. R.N. Gohil, Prof. Anima Langer, Prof. Namrata Sharma, Prof. Susheel Verma, Dr. Geeta, Dr. Harish Dutt, Dr. Skarma Nonzom, Dr. Madhu Raina and Dr. Harpreet Bhatia in the offline mode. Prof. Geeta Sumbali, Former Dean Life Sciences, Dr. Amit Chawla, Principal Scientist, IHBT, Palampur and Dr. Shreekar Pant, BGBSU, Rajouri chaired the sessions in online mode. In total 27 oral presentations and 10 poster presentations were held in the offline mode, while 17 oral presentations and 31 poster presentations were made by researchers on virtual mode from all over the country making it a pan India event. On the occasion, Prof. Seema Langer, Guest of honour shared her experiences about the brilliant history of the erstwhile Department of Biosciences and the establishment of one of its offshoots, i.e. Department of Botany since 1998. Prof. T.N. Lakhanpal, Special Invitee, appreciated the Department of Botany in successfully conducting the two days national event in a hybrid mode, which is often considered a challenging task. Certificate and awards distribution ceremony was organized in which three best oral and poster presentations in offline and online mode each were awarded to the research scholars for their brilliance in research and knowledge domains. On the occasion, Prof. A.K. Koul, Chief Guest of the function addressed the audience and deliberated on the need of rejuvenating botany as a subject in the present testing times. It was emphasized by Prof. Koul, that instead of chasing and adopting the modern techniques and fancy subjects in Botany, the concept of classical botany needs a proper look after with utmost attention. He also spoke at length about the thurst areas and their importance in bringing academic excellence to the Department of Botany. The proceedings of the valedictory function were carried out by Dr. Madhu Raina, while a formal vote of thanks was proposed by Dr. Skarma Nonzom, co-organizing secretary. The enthusiastic response shown by the delegates and invited speakers attending the event in an online and offline mode made this National seminar a highly successful event.