At the final hour it was not biofuels but the word "restrictive" in the final text of the declaration at the Rome summit which kept delegates at the conference till past 9 at night.
And it was Argentina who had objected to the use of the word in the text which called for the minimisation of restrictive measures that would affect the "volatility of international prices".
The Southern American country has imposed large taxes on food exports to keep food prices down. That has angered its farmers, leading to clashes with the authorities earlier this year.
Interestingly Argentine agriculture, which has not enjoyed much state support, is highly competitive compared to the US and many EU countries, remarked an FAO economist.
Meanwhile the text in the final declaration related to biofuels, which had been the talking point of the conference, was watered down to a fudgy section which went on about the challenges posed by bio-energy.
FAO policymakers who had been pushing for a stronger wording to ensure that biofuels did not compromise food security were disappointed. "That is what happens when you leave things to politicians," said a disgusted policy maker.
Climate change incidentally was the other dimension of the conference. But the closest it came to addressing global warming was the attention devoted to biofuels. FAO policymakers were hoping for serious rounds on the impact of climate change on agriculture and how it could in turn help mitigate the impact of global warming.
"Well, anyway at least the conference got people talking about agriculture," remarked an official.
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