The project focuses on the impact of past climate variability and extreme weather events on the production of selected crops in two target regions. At first unusually long series of observed data (over 200 years) will be reconstructed including data on: (A) Annual crop production at various levels (site, farm, district), (B) Crop technology e.g. crop rotation, fertilization, variety etc., (C) Daily weather data and other parameters (e.g. soil characteristics). Subsequently the combination of methods including range of agrometeorological indices and dynamic crop models will be used to answer the following questions: (1) Is it possible to detect changes in climate variability and frequency/severity of meteorological extremes relevant for crop production since 1800?; (2) Has the vulnerability of the crop production to the climate variability and meteorological extremes changed with time (e.g. through technology innovation or changes in climate variability)? (3) How vulnerable are the modern

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