Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy has appointed a board of directors to set up the Crown's irrigation funding company.
The as-yet unnamed company has been allocated $80 million to help get irrigation schemes around the country up and pumping.
It is due to begin operating on 1 July.
Mr Guy appointed Alison Paterson, the current chair of FarmIQ and former chair of Landcorp, to head an establishment board of seven persons.
He said the board has the right mix of commercial and governance expertise and a practical understanding of large infrastructure projects.