reduced pesticide use, Bt cotton has been commercialized
largely in Asian countries like China (Huang et
al. 2002a) and India (Whitfield, 2003). Carrière et al.
(2003) found long-term regional suppression of pink
bollworm [Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders)] by Bt
cotton. Bt rice has the potential to eliminate yield
losses caused by lepidopteran insects, estimated at 2 to
10% of Asia's annual rice yield of 523 million tons
(High et al. 2004). Field trials of transgenic rice suggested
high tolerance of transgenic rice against yellow
stem borer (Bashir et al. 2004). Most recently, an insect-
resistant variety GM Xianyou 63 that was produced
by inserting a Chinese-created B. thuringiensis
gene, showed resistance to rice stem borer (S. incertulas)
and leaf roller [Cnaphalocrocis exigua (Butler)]
This insect-resistant variety is reported to benefit small
farmers because of higher crop yield and reduced use
of pesticides, which is important for health reasons
(Huang et al. 2005).