In an attempt to elucidate the effect of microwave pretreatment (MP) on enzymatic hydrolysis of rice straw (RS), three distinct MP procedures, microwave treatment (MT) alone, MT and alkali treatment (AT) together, and MT after A T, were investigated and compared with conventional alkali pretreatment (AP) by measurement of reducing sugar during its enzymatic hydrolysis. The combination of MT and AT could significantly accelerate the hydrolysis rate whereas the hydrolysis yield stayed unchanged. The effect of microwave irradiation power and treatment time on the hydrolysis was also studied, and the optimal hydrolysis conditions were determined by an orthogonal experiment.