Marco, S., The Volcani Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Bet Dagan, Israel

Random sampling of autumn grown potatoes in Israel revealed potato virus Y incidences of 2.7, 2.5 and 3% during the years 1976, 1977 and 1978, respectively, figures only slightly higher than those found in spring-planted fields (2.3% in 1976), and which agree with visual estimates by the Inspection Service. Assaying random samples for potato leaf roll virus (PLRV) by aphid transmission to test plants, detected incidences as high as 38.8, 28.9, 36.7 and 33.3% during 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979, respectively, although only minor levels were visable, indicating symptom masking in the autumn. Most of the infection was found to be secondary; ca. 25% of the local seeds for autumn planting, grown during spring, are PLRV-infected. The effect of the high incidences of PLRV on autumn yields is not known, but they are consistently lower than spring yields of the same varieties. © 1981 Kluwer Academic Publishers.