ARGUMENT: An international development organization, in response to a vitamin A deficiency among people in the impoverished nation of Tagus, has engineered a new breed of millet high in vitamin A. While seeds for this new type of millet cost more, farmers

The argument puts forth a solution to combat the problem of vitamin A deficiency among people in the nation of Tagus. The international development organization suggests the cultivation of new engineered breed of millet which is high in vitamin A content. The invention of the organization might be true, however there are certain essential questions that need to be answered to have the predicted out come.

Firstly, the very first question which will arise and remains unanswered is: How well will the new breed of crops suit the climatic conditions of Tagus? We shouldn’t forget that Tagus is an impoverished nation. The driving factor behind this must be the climate. Had the climate and the surrounding been salubrious, the problem of being impoverished wouldn’t have raised. The new crop has been engineered and brought up in the laboratory. To find out its sustainability, the organization must try to cultivate the crop on a small scale and observe it for a certain duration. With this only then the idea and be processed ahead.

Secondly, the organization only talks about the cost of cultivating the crop and that too in an unquantified terms. The question which arises is “At what rate will those engineered breed of millet be available to the common man?”. Albeit is said that the new type of millet costs more, farmers will be paid subsidies for farming the new variety. This doesn’t potray the exact cost of the millet at which people can purchase it. The selling price of the millet will be driven by the number of farmers who are willing to cultivate the new breed. More the farmers, more the supply and lesser will be the cost. On the contrary, lesser the number of farmers, lesser will be the supply and more will be the cost.

Another question which needs to be answered for the prediction to be correct is: How similar is the engineered breed of millet to the original one? It is but obvious that the former won’t be a replica of the latter. The organization predicts the success based on the assumption that millet is the stapel food of the residents of Tagus. The probability of the engineered breed being rejected is high because they have been eating the original one down the years and a sudden change won’t be appreciated. In order to find the acceptability of the new crop, the organization must first should conduct a survey and find out how well are people accustomed to the newer variety to bolster its results.

Thus, by answering the above questions, only then the predicted result will turn out into reality without which it will be a wasteful effort in terms of time and money on the government’s side. But, as of now, the questions remain unanswered and the success of the measure suggested is dubious.