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 paid subsidies for farming the new variety of millet. Since millet is already a staple food in Tagus, people will readily adopt the new variety. To combat vitamin A deficiency, the government of Tagus should do everything it can to promote this new type of millet.
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered to decide whether the recommendation is likely to have the predicted result. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.
The commentator recommends the Tagus government promote a new type of vitamin-A enriched millet to their population. However, before enacting such a recommendation, national decision makers should answer queries regarding administration, dietary habits, and marketing to their citizens before deciding to take action.
In an impoverished nation, will a subsidy issued to farmers make the engineered millet accessible to the general population? The millet is a higher price than its organic cousin, and it is possible that the farmers will not be able to lower the price enough to make it affordable for all. If the grain consumes more water, or requires more labor to harvest, or there are other feasibility aspects to consider, a subsidy may not be enough. Additionally, with other competitors on the market, growers of the new grain may still choose or need to price their product at a level that is too high to be adopted by many citizens. Secondarily, will the distribution of this grain reach everyone, or will transportation and commerce habits prevent it from being widely available? If no, the government may need to address other issues first.
Another factor is marketability of the engineered seed. Will the millet look and taste the same as the natural millet that is available? If it does not, it may not be considered useful for consumption to the same degree as the latter. If there are no obvious differences, or if the grain tastes better or is easier to prepare than the natural grain, it may be purchased at a higher rate than millet has been bought before. Thus there would be no need for the government to promote it. Additionally, some may have a cultural objection to the idea of engineered food. For example, in some developing countries, human waste has been incorporated into charcoal pellets. The pellets emit a fecal oder when burned which is off-putting, and others object simply based on the instinct of keeping human waste away from the home.
Can this grain safely and effectively increase vitamin-A levels to make such an effort worth adoption? Vitamin C effects the absorption of Iron in the body. Calcium cannot be absorbed without an appropriate level of Vitamin D, which is best absorbed from sunlight, rather than food. It would be wise for the Tagus decision makers to consult health-professionals before choosing to introduce vitamin-A via this method. Additionally, it is possible that growth of such a plant may effect the natural ecosystem of the nation, which may effect other vegetation and animals. These are also considerations that could impact the populations diet, and it could be that the millet does more harm than good in the long-term.
The vitamin-A enriched millet sounds like a great solution to a serious problem. However, the Tagus government has the responsibility to ensure the proposal is nutritionally and culturally appropriate to incorporate, and that the higher price does not effect the consumer. Once these questions are answered, the international development organization can be effectively engaged for the betterment of Tagus.
Comments
e-rater score report
Attribute Value Ideal
Final score: 4.5 out of 6
Category: Good Excellent
No. of Grammatical Errors: 0 2
No. of Spelling Errors: 0 2
No. of Sentences: 25 15
No. of Words: 504 350
No. of Characters: 2536 1500
No. of Different Words: 249 200
Fourth Root of Number of Words: 4.738 4.7
Average Word Length: 5.032 4.6
Word Length SD: 2.917 2.4
No. of Words greater than 5 chars: 188 100
No. of Words greater than 6 chars: 131 80
No. of Words greater than 7 chars: 92 40
No. of Words greater than 8 chars: 63 20
Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0
Avg. Sentence Length: 20.16 21.0
Sentence Length SD: 7.428 7.5
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.52 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.258 0.35
Sentence-Para Coherence: 0.457 0.50
Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.038 0.07
Number of Paragraphs: 5 5
Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 5, column 427, Rule ID: SENT_START_CONJUNCTIVE_LINKING_ADVERB_COMMA[1]
Message: Did you forget a comma after a conjunctive/linking adverb?
Suggestion: Thus,
...ate than millet has been bought before. Thus there would be no need for the governme...
^^^^
Line 5, column 827, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
...keeping human waste away from the home. Can this grain safely and effectively in...
^^^^^
Line 7, column 484, Rule ID: AFFECT_EFFECT[6]
Message: Did you mean 'affect'?
Suggestion: affect
...ossible that growth of such a plant may effect the natural ecosystem of the nation, wh...
^^^^^^
Line 7, column 538, Rule ID: AFFECT_EFFECT[6]
Message: Did you mean 'affect'?
Suggestion: affect
...ural ecosystem of the nation, which may effect other vegetation and animals. These ar...
^^^^^^
Line 7, column 721, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
...s more harm than good in the long-term. The vitamin-A enriched millet sounds lik...
^^^^^
Line 9, column 254, Rule ID: AFFECT_EFFECT[6]
Message: Did you mean 'affect'?
Suggestion: affect
...ate, and that the higher price does not effect the consumer. Once these questions are...
^^^^^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
also, but, first, however, if, look, may, regarding, second, so, still, thus, for example
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 27.0 19.6327345309 138% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 24.0 12.9520958084 185% => OK
Conjunction : 16.0 11.1786427146 143% => OK
Relative clauses : 11.0 13.6137724551 81% => OK
Pronoun: 26.0 28.8173652695 90% => OK
Preposition: 55.0 55.5748502994 99% => OK
Nominalization: 19.0 16.3942115768 116% => OK
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 2608.0 2260.96107784 115% => OK
No of words: 504.0 441.139720559 114% => OK
Chars per words: 5.1746031746 5.12650576532 101% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.73813722054 4.56307096286 104% => OK
Word Length SD: 3.00867719238 2.78398813304 108% => OK
Unique words: 252.0 204.123752495 123% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.5 0.468620217663 107% => OK
syllable_count: 836.1 705.55239521 119% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.7 1.59920159681 106% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 5.0 4.96107784431 101% => OK
Article: 8.0 8.76447105788 91% => OK
Subordination: 5.0 2.70958083832 185% => OK
Conjunction: 9.0 1.67365269461 538% => Less conjunction wanted as sentence beginning.
Preposition: 4.0 4.22255489022 95% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 25.0 19.7664670659 126% => OK
Sentence length: 20.0 22.8473053892 88% => OK
Sentence length SD: 43.850911051 57.8364921388 76% => OK
Chars per sentence: 104.32 119.503703932 87% => OK
Words per sentence: 20.16 23.324526521 86% => OK
Discourse Markers: 3.56 5.70786347227 62% => OK
Paragraphs: 5.0 5.15768463074 97% => OK
Language errors: 6.0 5.25449101796 114% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 13.0 8.20758483034 158% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 6.0 6.88822355289 87% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 6.0 4.67664670659 128% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.324451877819 0.218282227539 149% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0869821469781 0.0743258471296 117% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0621156597239 0.0701772020484 89% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.172700339598 0.128457276422 134% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0311308428265 0.0628817314937 50% => Paragraphs are similar to each other. Some content may get duplicated or it is not exactly right on the topic.
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 13.0 14.3799401198 90% => Automated_readability_index is low.
flesch_reading_ease: 42.72 48.3550499002 88% => OK
smog_index: 8.8 7.1628742515 123% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 12.3 12.197005988 101% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 12.71 12.5979740519 101% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 9.08 8.32208582834 109% => OK
difficult_words: 142.0 98.500998004 144% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 12.0 12.3882235529 97% => OK
gunning_fog: 10.0 11.1389221557 90% => OK
text_standard: 13.0 11.9071856287 109% => OK
What are above readability scores?
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Rates: 58.33 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 3.5 Out of 6
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.