New Delhi: Food Corporation of India (FCI), the government's nodal agency for procurement and distribution of foodgrains, today said it will hire 9,000 professionals in the next three years. "We will fill-up approximately 9,000 posts in various categories in next three years," FCI Chairman and Managing Director Siraj Hussain said during the launch of the revamped website of the organisation. While the scale of foodgrains dealt by FCI has increased substantially over last three decades, its manpower has been drastically reduced in the wake of staff retirement to almost half, he said. Currently, there are over 33,000 staff working with FCI across the country. About 20,000 employees will be retired in next two years, he added. The official said that the vacant posts in various categories would be filled up in a phased manner.