In the present work, biomass pyrolysis tar cracking and reforming for high quality syngas production using a rice husk char (RHC)-supported nickel catalyst (Ni/RHC) coupled with microwave heating was investigated. The Ni/RHC catalyst exhibited a high catalytic performance on tar removal and contributed well to the production of CO and H 2 . The conversion efficiency could reach up to 97.3%, and the CO and H 2 yields were 274.0 ml g À1 and 248.9 ml g À1 , respectively, at 700 C, under microwave conditions, when the nickel loading amount was 10.42 wt% of the support. The tar conversion efficiencies and syngas yields significantly increased as the cracking temperatures increased from 500 C to 700 C and the nickel loading amount increased from 0 to 10.42 wt%. The Ni/RHC catalysts became more effective for tar removal and the production of syngas increased under microwave conditions compared to the results obtained under conventional conditions.