Johor warns prolonged haze threatens agriculture, fisheries as API hits unhealthy levels

On Monday evening, five districts across Johor were breathing air thick enough to register as unhealthy. Tangkak topped the list with an Air Pollutant Index reading of 160, followed by Pasir Gudang at 156, Batu Pahat at 154, Larkin at 151, and Kota Tinggi at 119. These numbers matter because they mark the threshold where the state's agriculture and fishing sectors begin to feel real strain.

Md Israk Abdullah, who chairs Johor's agriculture, agro-based industry and rural development committee, laid out the concern plainly: prolonged haze doesn't just hang in the air—it settles into the work of farming. Smoke and particulates can stunt plant growth, weaken livestock, and disrupt the rhythms of production that keep fish farms and fields running. The risk extends to the people doing the work too. Farmers, livestock rearers, fishermen, and outdoor workers face direct exposure to air quality that authorities have already flagged as unhealthy.

What makes this moment different from a passing weather event is the word "prolonged." A day or two of haze is an inconvenience. Weeks of it become an economic problem. Yet as of Monday, Md Israk stressed that the state government had received no formal reports from agriculture or agrofood operators saying their work had actually been disrupted. No farms reporting crop damage. No fish farms reporting die-offs. No production lines grinding to a halt. That absence of reports doesn't mean the threat isn't real—it may simply mean the haze is still new enough that impacts haven't yet surfaced in official channels.

The state government's response is structured around two parallel tracks: monitoring and prevention. Md Israk urged workers and operators across the sector to watch the API readings closely and follow all health guidance from authorities. He called for a reduction in non-essential outdoor work, particularly in the five districts where air quality had already tipped into unhealthy territory. The logic is straightforward—keep people indoors when the air is bad, and you reduce both immediate health risk and the chance of accidents or reduced productivity from workers operating in poor conditions.

Behind this sits a larger commitment. Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi's administration has framed agricultural protection as a food security issue. Johor's farms and fisheries don't exist in isolation; they feed people across the state and beyond. Maintaining stable output matters not just to the farmers themselves but to the supply chains and tables that depend on what they produce. The state government says it will keep gathering feedback from operators and will continue to assess whether the haze is actually causing disruptions on the ground.

What remains unclear is how long this will last. The API readings suggest the haze is already at unhealthy levels in multiple areas, but there's no timeline for when conditions might improve. The state is watching and waiting for the first concrete signs of damage—a farmer reporting wilted crops, a fish farm operator noting unusual mortality, a production facility announcing delays. Until those reports come, the threat remains potential rather than actual. But potential threats to food production, when they're this visible and this widespread, demand the kind of attention Johor is now giving them.