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 will be p

The recommendation for the government of Tagus to do everything possible to promote the new type of millet needs to address a few more questions such as the taste of the new millet, the cost of the subsidy, and the effect of new millet production.

Firstly, the research does not indicate if the taste, look, or feel of the new millet is the same as the old millet. If the new millet tastes differently than the old one, then it is possible that the people of Tagus might not readily adopt the new variety. The research can not assume that people will adopt the new variety just because it is already part of their daily diet. They need to conduct an experiment to prove this assumption first. Also, the article does not mention what percentage of the Tagus people diet is in millet. If the millet is only 1% of their daily diet, then adopting the new millet would only marginally increase their vitamin A consumption. If the millet is 20% of their daily diet, then the consuming the new type would likely increase Vitamin A.

Secondly, the recommendation suggests the government to do everything in its power to adopt the new type. How much higher is the cost of the new millet? The article only indicates that the new millet cost more than the old one. Since Tagus is already an impoverished nation, it might not have the economic resources to subsidize the production the new type at any cost. Thus, the article needs to address the cost of the subsidy for the Tagus government before it can make this recommendation.

Lastly, the research does not address the side affects of farming the new millet. What if the new millet has weed like quality? If that is the case, the new millet could reproduce rapidly and take over productive farmland for other agricultural staples. In this case, then it is not wise for the farmers to adopt the new variety because it could affect their ability to produce other staples and cause food shortage in other staples.

Vitamin A deficiency is definitely a serious problem and the government of Tagus should do everything possible to address this problem. If the Tagus government has the economic resource, and study have shown that people of Tagus will adopt to the new variety, and the production of the new millet has no detrimental affect on other products, then the recommendation could likely have the predicted results.