Spring crop planting had begun in earnest in Texas and was getting under way in other states, the U. S. Department of Agriculture has said.

In Texas, 48 percent of the corn acreage is already planted, well ahead of North Carolina, which has 34 percent of its corn acreage seeded.

The average planting is less than 4 percent, in 12 other states among the top 18 corn-producing states.

It was also reported that in Texas, 48 percent of the sorghum acreage has seed in the ground, compared to 43 percent n Louisiana, followed by 19 percent in Arkansas -- the only three of 11 prominent sorghum-producing states with more than 2 percent of its acreage planted.

It was further noted that in Texas 100 percent of its oat crop is planted. The second among nine prominent oat-producing states, Iowa has 55 percent of its oat acreage planted.

6 percent of the cotton acreage has been planted and Texas is third on that list with 9 percent planted, compared to 20 percent in California and 30 percent in Arizona among the country's 15 largest cotton-producing states, the weekly crop report said. (With Inputs from Agencies)