Air pollution and rice crop health: evidence from Vietnam’s Mekong Delta

Ambient air pollution is a growing concern in Southeast Asia, yet its effects on crop performance remain less understood than its effects on human health. Here, we examine whether fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure is associated with rice crop health in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, a major global rice-producing region. Our main contribution lies in developing a scalable methodology for data-scarce settings using remote-sensing indicators of crop condition with satellite-derived PM2.5, weather data, night-time lights, and fire activity from 2017 to 2022. Panel fixed effects estimates suggest a non-linear relationship between PM2.5 and crop health during the reproductive stage, with damages starting at 16.5 \(\upmu \) g/ \(\hbox {m}^3\) , below the average levels of concentration in the area. The negative impacts of PM2.5 are consistent with the reduction of fraction of photosynthetically active radiation. To address potential endogeneity in local pollution exposure, we instrument PM2.5 using episodic transboundary fire activity outside the Mekong Delta. The instrumental variable estimates also indicate a negative effect of haze-related pollution on crop condition. Together, these findings suggest that air pollution could impose agricultural costs in major rice producing areas, and should be considered in regional food-security and environmental policy discussions.