Levin, A.G., Dept. of Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er Sheva 84105, Israel, Dept. of Plant Pathology, ARO, Gilat Experiment Station, M.P. Negev 85280, Israel
Lavee, S., Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Fac. Agric., Food/Environ. Qual. S., Rehovot 76100, Israel
Tsror, L., Dept. of Plant Pathology, ARO, Gilat Experiment Station, M.P. Negev 85280, Israel

Epidemiology of Verticillium dahliae on olive trees (cvs. 'Barnea' and 'Souri') irrigated with saline water was studied over a period of 3 years. Disease incidence in cv. Barnea increased from 18.9% to 40.5% in the first year, while disease severity decreased from 4.2 to 2.4 (on a scale of 2-10). In the first month after pruning of diseased branches (June 1999), disease incidence was 26.9% and it increased to 60.6% by May 2000. No changes in disease severity were observed from this time until the end of the study. In cv. Souri, disease incidence doubled during the 3 years of the study (from 22.1% to 44.8%), and disease severity increased from 2.4 to 2.9. The disease caused significant reduction of yield in cv. Barnea in 1999 and 2000 (48.3% and 12.0%, respectively). In cv. Souri yield was measured only in 2001, where a reduction of 66.8% was observed. V. dahliae was isolated from both diseased and symptomless trees. A significant decrease in the isolation rate of V. dahliae from diseased cv. Barnea trees occurred between the first year (47.9%) and the third year (5.3%); positive isolations were obtained in all seasons, without differences between seasons. In cv. Souri, the fungus was isolated in significantly higher rates during the winter and spring (55% and 50%, respectively). Our findings strongly support the assumption that natural recovery occurs in cv. Barnea 4-5 years after planting, but not in cv. Souri.