Abstract: The development and application of polymer based composite materials with vegetable fibre reinforcement are reviewed with a discussion on problems that harass their properties improvement. Some typical fibre surface treatment methods are described，and their influences on composite mechanical properties as well as their limits are represented. Such as chemical methods of alkali treatment，interface coupling treatment and grafting treatment，and physical methods of thermal treatment，steam-explosion treatment，discharge treatment and high-energy irradiation treatment. General shortcomings of the existing treatment techniques are summarized and some suggestions on the development of vegetable fibre surface treatment are proposed.