Natural pastures are the primary sources of feed for ruminant in southwest Nigeria, but they are of poor quality. Oversowing of legumes could augment the nutrients supplied by the poor forages but this is rarely explored. Here, we oversowed two legumes (Stylosanthes guianensis cv. Cook and Stylosanthes hamata cv. Verano) into natural pasture using different tillage methods (zero-tillage and minimal tillage) and sowing methods (broadcast or drill), and examined their macro and trace minerals. We found that the two legumes produced similar (p > 0.05) calcium, phosphorus, and potassium in all treatments, while magnesium and sodium contents significantly differ (p < 0.05). The two legumes were generally rich in macrominerals far beyond the requirements of ruminants and low in trace mineral concentrations irrespective of the treatments imposed. Thus, we recommend oversowing of these two legumes into natural pasture for an adequate supply of major minerals and enhanced livestock productivity in the region of study and beyond. Other sources of trace minerals should be assessed if the natural pasture could not supply them.

天然草场是尼日利亚西南部反刍动物饲料的主要来源，但质量较差。豆科植物的过度播种可以增加贫瘠草料提供的养分，但这很少被探索。在这里，我们使用不同的耕作方法（零耕和最小耕作）和播种方法（播种或播种），将两种豆科植物（Guyensis Stylosanthes guianensis品种库克和Stylosanthes hamata品种Verano）播种到天然草场中，并研究了它们的宏观和微量矿物质。我们发现，两种豆类 在所有处理中均产生相似的（p > 0.05）钙，磷和钾，而镁和钠含量显着不同（p <0.05）。这两种豆科植物通常都含有大量的矿物质，远远超出了反刍动物的要求，而微量矿物质的含量却很低，而与所采用的处理方法无关。因此，我们建议将这两种豆科植物在自然牧场上进行过度播种，以在研究区域及其他地区提供充足的主要矿物质，并提高牲畜的生产率。如果天然牧场无法提供其他微量矿物质，则应进行评估。