Gamliel, A., Inst. of Agricultural Engineering, ARO, Volcani Center, Bet Shean, Israel
Gadkar, V., Institute of Field and Garden Crops, ARO, Volcani Center, PO Box 6, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
Zilberg, V., Inst. of Agricultural Engineering, ARO, Volcani Center, Bet Shean, Israel
Beniches, M., Inst. of Agricultural Engineering, ARO, Volcani Center, Bet Shean, Israel
Rabinowich, E., Extension Service, Bet Shean, Israel
Manor, H., Extension Service, Bet Shean, Israel
Wininger, S., Institute of Field and Garden Crops, ARO, Volcani Center, PO Box 6, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
Kapulnik, Y., Institute of Field and Garden Crops, ARO, Volcani Center, PO Box 6, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel

Two field experiments were conducted in the same farm over two consecutive years (1999 and 2000), to study the effect of soil solarization intensity on the establishment of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis, and on the ability of AM fungi to control pink root disease induced by Pyrenochaeta terrestris and to improve the product yield. In both years, growth retardation was directly correlated with chemical fumigation in chive seedlings grown in solarized soil but inversely correlated with solarization intensity. Furthermore, the efficacy of controlling pink root disease in chive roots was increased by increased solarization intensity. Inoculation of chive with a Glomus intraradices-based inoculant reduced the phenomenon of growth retardation, induced plant crop productivity and resulted in a further decrease in pink root pathogenicity as compared with that in untreated plots. The results show that AM symbiosis can suppress pink root disease in chive under field conditions.