Furfural is one of main inhibitors in hemicellulose hydrolysates such as xylose mother liquor, but its positive effect on the production of validamycin-A (VAL-A), a widely used agricultural antibiotic, was interestingly found in fermentation of Streptomyces hygroscopicus 5008. The furfural level in medium up to 1 g/L was effectively converted to furfuryl alcohol and furoic acid by the microorganism. Both intracellular H2O2 level and ValG enzyme activity of the cells were enhanced by furfural addition. Xylose mother liquor medium with supplementation of about 1 g/L furfural could enhance the VAL-A titer by 39 %. This work is helpful to VAL-A fermentation using the hemicellulose hydrolysate.