Farmers hope for light haze

Smoggy air: Office workers wearing masks while walking along Jalan Ampang in Kuala Lumpur at noon yesterday.

PETALING JAYA: Livestock farmers are looking to the skies and keeping their fingers crossed the haze condition will be mild this year.

Federation of Livestock Farmers’ Association of Malaysia president Jeffrey Ng said the situation so far wasn’t bad and its members were hopeful.

Their business would be affected if the haze became as thick as in previous years and caused warmer and drier weather, he said.

He said chickens would lay less eggs while poultry and livestock would take longer to reach market weight due to heat and water shortages.

“Some farmers are preparing by making sure they have an adequate water supply,” he added.

Federation of Pork Dealers Association president Chan Nyen Loong said the extreme haze conditions in 2014 and last year affected breeding and mating.

“Production went down and our costs went up because we had to buy medicine for the sick animals,” he said.

Like human, animals also get affected by the haze, said Malaysian Federation of Ruminant Breeders Association chairman Samad Kassim.

“Cows, goats and buffaloes have trouble breathing if conditions are really bad. They can even die from it,” he said.

At the very least, milk production in the cows and goats drops, he added.

Marine Fish Farmers Association deputy president Mohamed Razali Mohamed said the haze has no direct impact on fish stocks.

But the resulting poor visibility and air quality makes life miserable for the 20,000 workers nationwide in the RM1.2bil industry.

“Haze is much worse at sea level and productivity is affected when workers fall ill,” he said.

Malaysia exports 62,000 tonnes of fish to Singapore, Hong Kong and China annually.