Epidemiology of Verticillium dahliae on olive (cv. Picual) and its effect on yield under saline conditions

The epidemiology of Verticillium dahliae and its effect on yield was studied for 3 years in three plots of olive cv. Picual, planted in soil previously cropped with highly susceptible V. dahliae host plants and irrigated with saline water. Disease incidence increased 2.2-, 2.6- and 1.5-fold in plots 3A, 9A and 9C, respectively, within 39, 25 and 15 months of the first record taken. The highest severities were recorded in spring 2001 (4.0, 5.3 and 5.4 on a scale of 2-10, respectively). Disease incidence and severity increased during winter-spring and decreased during summer. Seasonal changes were also observed in the isolation of V. dahliae; the highest isolation rates in diseased trees were in winter (34%) and spring (45%), and the lowest were in autumn and summer (19-20%). Verticillium dahliae was isolated on an average of 27, 28 and 19% from the bottom, middle and top of the tree canopy, respectively, and was isolated from trees with and without symptoms. The fruit yield from diseased trees was reduced by an average of 75% in comparison with symptomless trees in plot 3A each year. A similar yield reduction (89%) was recorded in plot 9A in 2000. The severe expression of the disease and its effect on yield in the present study could be due to the fact that the orchard was planted in infested soil, and that saline irrigation probably exacerbates the problem.