[en] The steady-state distribution of the populations of the hyperfine sublevels of the ground state of alkali atoms is calculated for the case in which the atoms are subjected to a spectrally selective optical pumping on ²S₁/sub //₂--²P/sub 1/2,3/2/ transitions and a simultaneous pumping by microwave fields which are at resonance with transitions in the hyperfine structure of the ground state, F = 2, M/sub F/ = +- 2, +- 1bold-arrow-left-rightF = 1, M/sub F/ = +- 1. The addition of the microwave pumping is shown to substantially increase the population difference for the O--O transition in the hyperfine structure. During selective optical pumping of the F = 1 level, the population inversion which can be achieved for the O--O transition is limited by the effect of population capture. This capture can be eliminated by using incoherent microwave fields. The quality factor of the O--O resonance is calculated as a function of the parameters of the pump. The outlook for the use of composite pumping in frequency-stabilization systems is discussed