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

Farming does not only depend on the seed but also on various other factors such as the type of land, climatic conditions, farmer's practice in that area, fertilizers, etc. A decision to promote new breed of millet should be taken only after the government makes sure that this new breed is suitable for climatic condition and land structure. Lab test could reveal some clues, but test cultivation in small scale at various parts of the country would increase confidence in the decision. The government should make sure that the production of millet would not decrease after adaption to new breed in which case the people would in turn have to face food crisis and malnutrition.

Vitamin A is not the only component people get from millet. Millet might be a source of other important components such as minerals and other important vitamins to people. The government should make sure that this new type of millet does not compromise other components to increase the amount of vitamin A. If it does so, the introduction of new breed would in turn cause various other deficiencies. Testing the sample production against currently cultivated millet would give some idea on whether the consumption of new millet would still provide people with the necessary nutrients.

The fraction of millet consumption in the total food consumed by people of Tagus is another important factor in the decision the government makes. Do all the people consume millet in similar amount. May be majority of people eat rice or paddy instead of millet. So, the government should consider other sources of Vitamin A as well. In case of severe vitamin A deficiency, the government might have to consider Vitamin A supplement tablets instead of investing on long term plan of adaption to new breed of millet. Comparing the cost and time taken to see the result would help the government take informed decision.

The information available are not enough to make a decision to move to new type of millet. Land and climate should be considered in order to make sure that food production would not in turn go down. In addition, the government should ensure that other vitamins and nutrients are not compromised in the new breed of millet. Adapting to new seed would take a lot of time to help people recover the deficiency. The subsidies would incur cost to the government. So, the government should also consider other sources of vitamin A taking the cost and time into account.